


He's Not Worth It || Harry Styles AU

by lisavslisa



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Dogs, F/M, Falling In Love, Famous Harry, Los Angeles, Love, Neighbors, Sexual Content, Sexual Tension, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-10
Updated: 2018-07-28
Packaged: 2018-11-30 02:54:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 41,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11454498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lisavslisa/pseuds/lisavslisa
Summary: “He’s not worth it.”That’s the lie Maggie’s been telling herself for months.That it wasn’t worth it to even try to get involved with a man like Harry Styles.He was a world traveler, a famous musician.And her? She was just his neighbor.A friend.“He’s not worth it.”She said it so many times to herself,but never once did she believe it.





	1. {One - Puppy Love}

**Author's Note:**

>   
>    
> 

**Fall 2017**

Maggie Covington never thought herself to be sexy – not in the conventional way at least. She couldn’t really compare to the kind of girls that a guy like Harry Styles brought home. She always felt like she was more on the average side looks-wise; nerdy even. She sported glasses and a ponytail half the time and she could usually be found in the library studying rather than in a night club. She mostly kept to herself, but loved deeply. She enjoyed taking care of everyone and everything around her – whether it be people or animals.

In fact, it was how she first met her newest neighbor. His dog, Hemingway – who she aptly nicknamed Hemmy, much to his owner’s dismay – got out of his house and began running amok in the courtyard. Maggie was the one to seize the pooch. Hemmy ran straight to her when she called and began sliming up her face with kisses.

“You are a lover, aren’t you? Funny, puppy. Where is your human, huh? Where are they?” Maggie spoke to the little tan and white English bulldog like she would a baby or young child.

When she looked up, it was as if an angel was hovering above her. Well, maybe not so much an angel, rather an extremely attractive curly-haired man with a huge smirk on his face. Maggie had never seen such a perfect specimen in her entire life – the smile, the body, the charm. His eyes were covered with black _Ray-Ban’s_ and his smile was about a mile wide. Maggie was struck speechless as the man bent down placing a leash on the dog’s collar.

“Thanks,” he said, his voice much, _much_ deeper than she expected. Maggie stood up slowly, keeping her eyes on the dog’s owner.

“You’re welcome,” she said quickly, realizing he’d spoken and that maybe she should reply.

“I think he likes you,” the angelic man quipped and Maggie noticed his British accent, which really only made him sexier.

“I think you’re right. What’s his name?” She asked as she looked down at the dog and then back up at his human. The man smiled jovially at her, causing her to smile as well.

“Hemingway,” he answered.

“ _Aww_ , Hemmy. You’re a good boy aren’t you?” Maggie asked the dog, bending down momentarily to pet his head again.

“Hemmy?” The man chuckled.

“Sorry. I like to give everyone a nickname, regardless of species,” she explained, smirking bashfully.

“Ah, well, I’m Harry,” he said, holding out his hand to shake hers.

She placed her hand in his, feeling the warmth of his tanned skin against her own. And in that moment, it dawned on her. She _knew_ who he was. She knew of him at least. He moved in that summer and word around the complex was that he was some famous guy. She heard through the grapevine that he was Harry Styles from the band _One Direction_. Maggie heard of them a while back, but never really got into them. She remembered hearing a song or two of theirs on the radio, but nothing more. She also remembered not being too impressed when hearing that a member of _One Direction_ moved into the complex, but now – _wow_. She should have paid more attention, because he was a _fox_.

“What’s your name?” He asked, giving her a sideways smirk as they continued to shake hands, and she realized she went into a brief daze thinking about him. 

“Oh, uh, Maggie. Maggie Covington,” she told him and quickly took her hand back.

“ _Maggie._ I like that,” he said with a smile as he slid his sunglasses up to the top of his head.

She was blushing and she knew it. It was not every day she was met with a pair of eyes she could easily spend the rest of her life staring into. Even though she was sure he was the owner of a beautiful pair of green eyes, in the sunlight they almost looked multi-colored. The way the light hit them it look as though they were kaleidoscopic.

“Do you live here?” Harry asked. Maggie almost didn’t hear him because she was too busy staring at his eyes.

“Hmm… oh, yeah,” she stammered, smiling bashfully again.

“Same here,” he said, returning a smile.

“Yeah… uh, I think we’re next door neighbors,” she pointed out, almost wishing that she kept that stalker-ish piece of information out of the conversation.

“Brilliant,” he chuckled.

It wasn’t a big shocker to her that he didn’t see her around the last couple of months. She really didn’t get out much – unless it was to go to work, school, or the library – and really the library didn’t even count because for one, she worked there and for two, the only other reason she was there was to study for school.

“Yep,” she said awkwardly, swaying back and forth on the balls of her heels.

“Well, Maggie. It was really nice to meet you, but Hemingway and I have an appointment to get to,” he said, smiling widely at her.

“Oh. Yeah. Don’t let me stop you,” she said, waving her hand through the air. Maggie quickly bent down to say goodbye to the dog, rubbing his ears playfully in her hands.

“I’ll see you around, Hemmy,” she told the canine. Hemingway jumped up and licked her face one last time.

“Aww. Thanks, boy,” Maggie giggled as she wiped the slobber away.

“I told you he likes you,” Harry said, smiling at her as she stood once again.

“The feeling is mutual,” she said truthfully, giving Harry a smirk.

“See you later, Maggie,” Harry said finally and she could have sworn she saw him wink at her before he turned to walk away.

_Oh, goodness_. She already knew she was smitten with him _and_ his dog with just one meeting. Never mind the fact that she knew she didn’t have a single chance in the world with him – probably not even in her dreams either. He was a famous boy bander after all.

But little did she know, the day she met Harry Styles would change her life forever. She soon realized it changed her life in regards to having one more thing to worry about. And her crush on Harry most definitely kept her occupied – whether it meant she had to study harder to keep her concentration on the material in front of her rather than the perfectly chiseled tattooed body Harry so proudly worked out every day; or having to worry about Hemmy when Harry was off jet-setting around the world. Maggie officially became Harry’s dog sitter that Christmas when he flew back to Cheshire to visit family.

She was certain she would have done anything Harry asked of her, because they were friends and because she was falling head over heels for him, though he didn’t know it.

Unrequited love. Ain’t it a bitch?


	2. {Two - Maggie May}

**November 2017**

“Hemingway, you are the best dog in the world. Yes, you are. Look at those teeth. Look at you. Big bad pooch,” Harry said, wrestling with his dog in the grass in the front yard of his Los Angeles condo.

“Could you get anymore sickeningly cute?” He heard from above him. He looked up to see his neighbor Maggie standing down at him and his dog.

“Thanks,” he smirked, bouncing an eyebrow.

“I meant Hemmy,” she said evenly, but he could see the smirk on the corner of her lips. Maggie bent down to pet Hemingway, who had already completely started ignoring Harry and putting all of his attention on the beautiful girl in front of him.

“Ha. Yeah,” Harry said, sitting up in the grass.

“Hi, baby boy,” Maggie cooed to Hemingway as she pet him lovingly.

Harry’s dog was entirely smitten with their new neighbor. He didn’t even like Kendall, Harry’s girlfriend, like he liked Maggie – and Kendall was the one who bought the dog for Harry.

“I think he’s hooked on you, Maggie,” Harry said, smiling at her.

“I think I’m hooked on you too, Hem,” she said in a baby voice to Hemingway as she sat down in the grass next to them.

“Maggie – is that short for Margaret or something?” Harry asked curiously. He’d wondered since he met her.

“Nope,” she said, finally directing her vision to Harry instead of his attention-whore of a dog.

“Just Maggie,” she said matter-of-factly.

“Just Maggie,” he said with a nod and a smile.

“Have you ever heard the song ‘Maggie May’…” She started to say.

“By Rod Stewart?” Harry asked, quirking an eyebrow. He was familiar.

“That’s the one,” she said, beaming a smile at him.

_“Wakeup Maggie, I think I’ve got something to say to you…”_ Harry sang in his best Rod Stewart impression. Maggie’s eyes immediately widened as if in awe.

“That’s the one,” she breathed.

“Are you named after it?” Harry asked curiously.

“Yep. Maggie May Covington. My mom had the hots for Rod Stewart back in the day. Dad liked the song,” Maggie explained with a bashful smirk.

“Does it run in the family?” Harry asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“Does what?” She asked, looking confused.

“Having the hots for rock stars?” Harry asked, smiling slyly at her.

“Oh, wow. Uh, I don’t know,” she said as a deep blush crept up her cheeks. Harry smiled, knowing he caught her off guard. He couldn’t help but chuckle. She was absolutely lovely.

Maggie went back to petting Hemingway, trying her best to hide her embarrassment.

“I quite like that song,” Harry told her a moment later.

“Me too,” she said quietly.

“Well, that’s good. It would be a shame to be named after a song you didn’t like,” Harry chuckled.

“Yeah,” she said, smiling up at him.

_“Oh, Maggie. I couldn’t have tried anymore…”_ Harry sang another snippet of the song and Maggie blushed wildly again as her smile nearly ate her alive.

“Does it make you uncomfortable that I am singing your song?” Harry asked, looking over at her.

“No. I just… I’ve never really actually had it seriously sung to me – by a professional,” she said with a nervous chuckle.

“I’d hardly call myself a professional,” Harry chuckled.

“Well, you’re no amateur,” she countered, smiling over at him.

“I don’t do Rod Stewart justice,” he laughed.

“I think you’re better,” she said quietly. She looked up at him just in time to see a knee-weakening, dimpled-cheek smile that was all for her

“Do you?” He asked, quirking an eyebrow again.

“Yes,” she said seriously with a nod of her head. _Oh my, my, my_.

“Maggie May, you’re going to give me a complex,” Harry said, smirking at her. She laughed outright and Harry laughed too.

He loved making her laugh. She was fantastic – so intoxicating. He just wanted to wrap himself around her and never let her go – but alas, he could not. He was taken by another woman and Maggie – well, Maggie was like forbidden fruit. She was like a dream he couldn’t actually touch – perfect in every way, but just out of his reach.

Harry snuck a look over at her from the corner of his eye. She was looking up at the clouds, so he allowed himself a longer look at her. Her long blonde hair was cascading down her back. She had a small smile on her lips, which in turn made him smile. She looked happy.

His eyes moved across her perfect jaw line, down to her neck looked positively edible. His eyes passed down her collarbone and down to her chest. Her breasts were perfectly proportioned for her petite frame and Harry couldn’t help but admire them for a moment longer than he did her other aspects.

Maggie’s gaze came down from the sky to meet his again and he quickly looked up into her eyes, not wanting her to know he was just oogling over her chest.

“There are a lot of fluffy clouds in the sky,” she said, smiling at him, oblivious to his perversion.

“Oh, yeah?” He asked as he lay back in the grass to look up at them. A moment later, she joined him.

“Have you ever picked out things in the clouds? Like pictures?” She asked, looking over at him. Their heads were so close, it would be so easy for him just to lean across and kiss her.

“All the time,” he told her.

“Good. I’m not the only weirdo,” she chuckled, looking back up at the sky.

“It’s not weird. It’s something I think everyone does during their childhood. And apparently adulthood,” he laughed.

“There – that cloud looks like a bunny rabbit,” she said, pointing to the sky.

“You mean a dinosaur?” Harry questioned, smiling over at her.

“No, look. Those are his ears… his body… and his tail…” She said, trying to point it out.

“No, there’s the neck… his body… and his tail….” He countered, pointing upwards.

“Dinosaurs have long tails, Harry,” she protested with a laugh.

“It’s wrapped around his body,” Harry said, looking over at her with a quirk of his eyebrow.

“I think you’re just making that up,” she laughed, looking over at him too.

A moment later, Maggie sat up, looking down at him.

“I should go,” she told him.

“Okay,” he said, sitting up next to her. Harry watched as she stood up and then got up himself.

“Hey, there’s something I wanted to ask you. And you can completely say ‘no’. It’s just a thought…” He told her.

“What’s that, Harry?” She asked with a small smile.

“Uh, I have to fly to Cheshire next week and I was wondering if maybe you would want to watch Hemingway for me during those days,” Harry asked hopefully. If not, Hemingway would be spending a week either at a kennel or with Kendall. Either way, it probably wouldn’t be pleasant for him.

“Oh. Uh, I’m probably going up to Sacramento to visit my family for Thanksgiving, but…” She started to explain.

“You know what, never mind,” he said, waving it off.

“No. I’ll ask my parents if it’s okay and then I’ll let you know,” she told him.

“No, Maggie. Seriously it’s fine. I can just put him in a kennel or something,” Harry said, shrugging his shoulders.

“What!? No!” She practically yelled, causing Harry’s eyes to widen from her outburst.

“No way, Harry. I’ll watch him. Seriously. If my parents have a problem with it, then I can stay at my Aunt’s or something,” Maggie said firmly.

“Maggie, I don’t want to inconvenience you. It’s your time with your family,” he told her.

“Hemmy is not an inconvenience,” she scoffed, sounding quite offended.

“Maggie May, are you sure?” Harry asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“Yes… _Hazza_ ,” she quipped. Harry laughed out loud. She must have been reading up on him or something.

“Oh my god. I can’t believe I just called you that!” Maggie said, slapping her hand over her mouth, looking embarrassed.

“Ha. No, it’s okay. Louis still calls me that,” Harry said, smirking at her. She closed her eyes and shook her head.

“You can call me that. I don’t mind,” he told her honestly.

“Are you sure?” She asked, biting her lip.

“About as sure as I’m going call you Maggie May from now on,” Harry told her truthfully, which caused her to laugh out loud.

“Alright, _Hazza_ ,” she said, putting emphasis on the nickname.

“Alright, _Maggie May_ ,” he said, smirking wildly at her. Maggie laughed out loud and shook her head.

“Okay. I leave the day before Thanksgiving and I’ll be back by the Monday after,” he told her, getting down to business again.

“Okay. Just uh, write some stuff down that you want me to know. And I mean, we can talk about this again later. Oh, and you don’t mind if I take him with me to Sacramento, right?” She asked, realizing she just assumed that was how it was going to go.

“He loves car rides,” Harry said, smirking at her.

“Perfect! It’s a long one,” Maggie chuckled.

“When will you be back?” He asked her.

“Probably by Sunday… but I can come home Saturday if you’d like,” she told him.

“No, no, no. Spend time with your family. I can wait until Sunday to see him,” Harry said, smiling at her.

“Alright, Harry. I’m excited,” she said happily.

“I’m glad,” he said, smiling back at her.

“I really should be going though,” she told him again.

“Yeah. Don’t let me keep you,” he told her.

“Alright. Bye, Harry,” she said, waving as she began to walk away. Hemmy let out a little bark in her direction.

“You forgot someone,” Harry laughed.

“Oh, HEMMY!” Maggie cooed, bending down as the dog ran to her.

“I’m sorry, baby!” She giggled as she pet him.

“I’ll see you later, handsome,” Maggie said to the dog, but looked up at Harry a split second later, making him wonder if it was an innuendo directed at him.

“Bye, Harry,” she said again.

“Bye, Maggie May,” he said, smiling at her.

Maggie stood up and started walking toward her car again.

“Hemingway! Come here, boy,” Harry said, calling to his dog who was trailing behind the beautiful lady.

“Hemingway Styles! Get over here, now!” Harry called him again.

“Hemmy,” Maggie said, shaking her finger at the love-struck dog.

Moments later, Harry walked over to them and scooped up the puppy.

“Bye, Maggie May,” he said again with a smile.

“Bye, Hazza,” she giggled as she went out the gate.

Harry brought Hemingway back into his flat, singing ‘Maggie May’ under his breath, realizing it was his new favorite song.


	3. {Three - British Charm}

**January 2018**

_“Wake up Maggie, I think I’ve got something to say to you,”_ Maggie heard Harry singing in the courtyard of the complex where they lived.

There were many times when Harry would burst out singing the song to her just to be funny. But it was the times like these that really did a number on her – when she would catch him humming or singing the song to himself.

_“It’s late September and I really should be back at school,”_ he continued as he played fetch with Hemingway in the gated area, oblivious to the fact that she could see and hear him.

She stood there watching him from behind as he continued singing the song – sometimes replacing the lyrics by humming the melody, but then he would pick back up with the words.

_“Oh, Maggie. I couldn’t have tried anymore,”_ he sang loudly, holding the note for longer than the actual song did.

She walked slowly down the sidewalk, watching Harry with a big smile on her face. He was wearing a black peacoat, a grey scarf and a pair of black skinny jeans. She couldn’t help but notice how great the pants made his butt look. She bit her lip and laughed to herself as she continued toward the duo. On Hemingway’s next retrieval of the tennis ball, he didn’t take it back to Harry; he ran passed him, straight to her.

“Maggie May!” Harry called out once he saw her. He looked surprised to see her, which meant he was just randomly singing _her_ song.

“Hazza!” She replied immediately, laughing as she used his boyhood nickname that she started using when she couldn’t seem to come up with a nickname for him. His smile lit up the entire world as he jogged toward her and Hemmy.

“Your dog likes me better,” she teased, leaning down to pet the pooch.

“He does. He whimpers at the door wanting to go see you,” Harry told her with a mischievous smirk on his face.

“Nah-uh,” she said in disbelief, her eyes wide.

“He does. I just keep telling him he’s going to have to wait to see his Maggie May,” Harry confirmed, smiling widely at her.

“Oh, Hemmy. I love you, too,” she cooed, bending down to rub his ears and get a kiss from him. She giggled as the perfect little bulldog licked her chin and nose.

“Oh, you’re stealing kisses now? Huh, mate? He likes to brag to me about how you let him kiss you every time he sees you,” Harry joked. Maggie looked up at him, her mouth going dry immediately.

“Little bugger,” Harry continued, looking down at his dog.

“He brags, huh?” She asked with a smirk.

“All the time. ‘Oh, she thinks I’m such a good kisser’. ‘She loves me’. I’m like ‘mate, you’ve gotta lay off. I’m already jealous, no need to rub it in’,” Harry went on, joking about his imaginary conversation with his dog. Maggie blushed wildly as she pet Hemingway on the head – they were after all ‘talking’ about her.

“He’s such a show off,” Harry said finally, sending Maggie a cute smirk.

“Hmm. I wonder where he gets that from…” She quipped as she stood up.

“What is _that_ supposed to mean?” Harry chuckled and Maggie laughed out loud.

“Where are you headed?” He asked, changing the subject.

“Oh. Uh, class,” she said, patting her messenger bag that hung at her hip.

“Maggie May the genius,” Harry said with a proud smile.

Harry couldn’t help but admire her. She was a diamond with many, many spectrums of light beaming off of her. She was illustrious and mystifying and alluring and she was just so god damn smart. She was always studying – always had her nose in the books.

“Which really can’t compare to Harry Styles the rock star,” she retorted immediately.

“ _Pssh_. I’ll take brains over talent any day,” he insisted, knowing she had way more going for herself than he did. Her knowledge would get her through the rest of her life, whereas his fame and fortune most definitely had an expiration date.

Maggie couldn’t tell if he was talking about what he wanted for himself or what he liked in a woman. The way he was looking at her made her believe he was referring to the latter. His eyes stared directly into hers, causing her timid ones to look away because of the sheer intensity. She liked him since the day she met him over three months before and she really couldn’t handle one more thing that would cement her to the feelings. Everything he said or did just made her heart grow for him – he always had the right words, the right moves. She figured it was just his natural British charm. He must have been born with it – something that smooth and _lethal_ couldn’t have been a learned trait. He was surely breaking hearts since 1994.

And hers since October of last year.

“Well, you go make the grade, love. Me and Hemingway will be back here waiting for your arrival home,” he said playfully, like they were a couple or something.

_See_ , breaking hearts. He shouldn’t be saying things like that to unsuspecting girls – especially since he had a girlfriend. A very famous girlfriend, from a very famous reality TV family.

Maggie knew Kendall didn’t like her very much. She didn’t really give her the time of day – not like Harry, who went out of his way to talk to her or say hi to her even when Kendall was on his arm. Hell, if Maggie were her, she’d be skeptical of the girl that lived next to door to her very sexy, very charming boyfriend, too. Maggie really didn’t hold it against her – Harry was, after all, a chronic flirt. But alas, compared to Kendall, the model, Maggie really didn’t have anything to offer. How much could she really be jealous of? Maggie most definitely wouldn’t be high on his list of lovers, if she was on it at all.

“You know me – teacher’s pet,” Maggie joked, sending him a smile as she began walking down the sidewalk to her car.

“Go make me proud, Maggie May,” he called after her. She gave him a wave and continued walking.

“Hemingway, you traitor!” Maggie heard Harry call to his dog.

She turned to find Hemmy trailing at her feet – loyal to his Maggie May instead of his human. She chuckled as she bent down and picked up the adorable pup.

“You little rascal,” she cooed at the puppy. Hemmy licked her nose and looked at her with his bright eyes that made her melt.

“There he goes again – kissing you,” Harry said, walking up to retrieve his dog.

“I guess I’m irresistible. Huh, Hemmy?” Maggie said, talking to the dog in her arms.

“Something like that,” Harry said, smirking at her. Blushing instantly, she handed Harry the dog.

“You stay with your papa, mister,” Maggie told Hemmy and Harry chuckled.

“I’ll see you, Harry,” she said to the irresistible boy in her presence.

“Bye, Maggie May,” he said as she continued to her car.

As Maggie got in her vehicle, she noticed Harry still standing in the same spot, Hemmy in hand, watching her. As much as she loved the attention from him, it also made her uncomfortable because it made the ache for him grow inside of her.

She was hooked like an addict – and Harry Styles was her drug of choice.


	4. {Four - Emergency}

**February 2018**

Maggie grew up in Sacramento, where her parents still lived. She moved to Los Angeles for college when she was just barely eighteen. And for the past four years, she made LA her home in the very same condo she still lived in. She saw plenty of neighbors come and go – but she never got attached to them like she did with Harry and his adorable English bulldog, Hemingway.

Her love for that dog was unconditional and her love for his human – well, she just called that pathetic. She probably would have done anything for either one of them at the drop of a dime. They had her heart. And one day, her love was tested.

She heard a frantic pounding on her front door that scared her half to death.

“MAGS!” She heard Harry’s panicked voice.

She practically threw her Environmental Law book across the floor as she dashed for the door. She threw it open to find Harry standing in front of her, looking frightened.

“Harry, what’s the matter?” She asked, her brows furrowing together out of concern.

“It’s Hemingway,” he said quickly and her heart plummeted.

“Harry, what?” Maggie asked impatiently.

“Come on,” he said with a huff, waving her to come to his condo.

“Harry, _seriously_ – tell me what is going on,” she insisted as she instinctively followed him toward his place – hopping straight over the flower bushes that divided his sidewalk from hers.

“He… I don’t know. I think he ate something and he just won’t stop vomiting,” Harry said with concern and panic laced in his voice.

We took his stairs two by two to get up to his kitchen and living room area. Hemingway was lying underneath the kitchen table looking absolutely miserable. The entire house reeked of puppy bile.

“I think you should take him to the vet,” Maggie told Harry as she got down to Hemmy’s level, petting his head.

“Will you come with me?” Harry asked immediately.

“Of course. Just uh, get him in the car. Maybe put a blanket under him. Oh, and bring his favorite toy! I’ll go grab my purse and lock up my house,” Maggie told him as she stood up in an instant.

“Okay, okay,” Harry said, looking like he might be panicking a little bit. Maggie grabbed Harry by the shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes.

“Harry, he’s going to be okay,” she assured him.

“But, I’ve only had him a few months. What if…” Harry started worrying.

“He’s going to be okay,” Maggie said again, squeezing his shoulders in her hands and Harry nodded, though he still didn’t look completely convinced.

“Thanks, Mags,” he said, taking a deep breath and letting it out hard as his hand ran through his hair, flipping it to the right.

“Anytime,” she told him and picked up the pace as she scooted around him to run out of his house.

She ran all the way back to her house and grabbed her purse, keys and jacket – then she was out the door locking it behind her. Harry was walking out of his house with Hemmy wrapped up in his arms in a blanket.

“Can you grab my keys? They’re in my front pocket of my trousers,” Harry said, jutting out his right hip at her.

“Wha—” Maggie said, looking at him wide-eyed.

“My keys,” Harry said again, jutting out his hip even more.

Her heart raced. _Oh, yeah_. She wasn’t about to die or anything. She was just about to dig in the pocket of Harry’s incredibly tight, incredibly sexy jeans. They’d both see how long she lasted after that. She literally had to mentally scold herself as she looked down at the sick puppy in Harry’s arms.

Maggie swallowed hard as she tried to reach in his pocket and grab the keys, but her hand kept getting stuck and Harry kept falling backward. She ended up having to use her other hand to grasp his hip so she could steady him. _Dear, Lord_. She was touching skin – skin she should not be touching. _Focus, focus, focus_.

She looked at Hemmy again and her heart broke all over for the baby puppy. Her hand successfully retrieved the keys, but also successfully felt the amazingly hard sinew muscle of Harry’s upper thigh. _Oh, good god_. She pulled her hand out quickly, trying but failing to not look like an idiot.

“I-I got ‘em,” she said, fumbling with them in her hands, trying to find the key that looked similar to her own apartment key.

“It’s round and big…” Harry said. _Holy Shit_. What did he just say? Was he just talking about…?

“The key,” he elaborated. Maggie realized she stopped searching for the key and was just staring at him like an idiot.

“Oh, yeah!” She exclaimed, continuing to fumble through the keys, mentally scolding herself again. _Jesus, Maggie_. Get your mind out of the gutter.

She located the correct key and shoved it in the keyhole, locking the door. The pair of them walked quickly to Harry’s car and Maggie used his clicker to unlock the doors of his _Range Rover_ so he could get Hemmy inside.

“Can you drive?” He asked her quickly.

“Your… your _Range Rover?”_ She stammered, feeling uneasy about it. That car was worth about as much as she owed in student loans. It was a scary thought.

“Yeah. It’s just a car, Maggie,” he said evenly, realizing she was sort of freaking out.

“Um, if you’re sure,” she said, walking to the driver side.

“I’m sure,” she heard him say.

Harry gave her directions to the vet, but she already knew the area, so she knew where it was. On the way, he called Kendall to tell her about Hemingway’s situation. It was quite awkward when they got into a fight on the phone.

“She’s… she’s out to dinner with a friend and isn’t coming to the vet,” Harry said as he pet his sick dog’s head.

Maggie found his eyes in the rear view mirror and she could see all sorts of emotion in them – the leading one being disappointment. She felt bad for him.

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly, not knowing what else to say.

“At least I have you,” Harry said, giving her a small smile. _Yeah, he had his cake and he was eating it too_ , she thought.

As they were getting out of the car at the vet a few paparazzi’s walked over from the nearby restaurant and Harry groaned inwardly.

“I don’t want to deal with this shit right now,” Harry grumbled as he pulled his sick dog out of the car.

Maggie felt out of place. She planned on studying all night, so she was in sweats with her hair pulled up in a messy bun. She looked like a scrub. The cameramen immediately started asking Harry who she was and why she was with him instead of Kendall. Harry just told them his dog was sick and to give them space. The paparazzi didn’t stop filming them, but they did back off a bit. Luckily, they got into the building without a scuffle.

Once the vet took Hemmy back, Harry asked Maggie to come with him. She stood awkwardly in the examination room with the vet, Harry and his sick dog feeling more than a little out of place. It really should have been Kendall there.

“We need to do some x-rays, just to see what exactly he ingested. And once the cause is conclusive, surgery might be our only option to retrieve whatever it is,” the vet explained to Harry.

“Surgery?” Harry choked out, sounding frightened.

Maggie reached over instinctively and grabbed his hand. Harry took it greedily, intertwining their fingers together tightly. Maggie couldn’t help but think of how _right_ it felt.

“Will he… will he be okay?” Harry asked the vet.

“I don’t have a definite answer for you, unfortunately. There are always risks, but this thing happens quite often. Puppies are curious by nature and get into just about everything. In just about all the cases I’ve seen in similar situations, the dog recovered just fine and went on to live a long happy life,” the vet explained.

Both Harry and Maggie breathed a large sigh of relief and looked at each other for support as the vet tech took Hemmy back for x-rays. The vet went over all the details of the potential surgery and Harry held Maggie’s hand the entire time. She had to keep her brain from going to mush because of it. All she kept thinking was how perfectly dry their intertwined hands were. Usually when she held someone’s hand, it got sweaty or clammy and it usually got really uncomfortable and gross. But not with Harry. Their hands were dry and perfect and she could only take that as another sign – another thing she loved about him. Their perfect hands, perfectly intertwined.

Once the x-rays were done they were informed that Hemmy would in fact need surgery. There seemed to be a piece of cloth of some sort stuck in his intestine. The two of them sat in the waiting room of the vet’s office while Hemmy was in surgery. The vet offered to call when they were done in case they wanted to go home and rest, but Harry refused. He wanted to stay and be there for his dog right away after surgery. He offered to pay for an Uber to take Maggie home, but she told him she’d rather stay. She knew he needed someone there for him too.

“You’re a good friend,” Harry told her.

“So are you,” Maggie retorted, smiling sweetly at him.

Harry got a call from Kendall around ten o’clock and then shortly after, she showed up at the vet – nearly three hours after Harry called her about Hemingway.

“Oh, Maggie’s here. _Yay_ ,” Kendall said with thick sarcasm in her tone.

“Maggie drove us here. She’s been awesome,” Harry snapped at her.

“Well, thank you. You can go home now, Maggie. I’ll make sure Harry gets home okay,” Kendall said in a sugary sweet voice that Maggie knew was fake.

“I-I don’t have my car,” Maggie said, looking over at Harry.

“If you want to go home, you can take mine,” Harry said, pulling his keys out of the same pocket she dug them out of earlier that night.

“Uh, okay,” Maggie said uneasily, taking the keys from him. Really? Was he really trusting his precious _Range Rover_ to her again?

Just then, the vet came out to inform them that the surgery went well and they’d be able to see Hemingway soon. He also told them what the foreign object was – a pair of thong underwear. After seeing both Harry and Kendall’s reaction, they all knew the underwear were Kendall’s, which made Maggie feel uncomfortable even though she knew she shouldn’t. She knew he and Kendall were dating, but she also read about all the rumors about Harry being gay with his bandmate Louis and she kind of hoped it were true. Then maybe she’d be able to get over the massive crush she had on him.

 The vet informed Harry that Hemmy would need to stay overnight for observations, but he could come back in the morning.

It got awkward between Harry, Kendall and Maggie when Kendall kept insisting to drive Harry back to his house and have Maggie drive his car back. Harry kept telling her it didn’t make sense – that he would just drive Maggie home. Kendall seemed a bit pissed at him when she left in a huff.

“Well, that was uncalled for,” Harry said after his dramatic girlfriend stormed out of the vet office.

The drive back to the condos was quiet. Maggie couldn’t stop thinking about how jealous Kendall got over her being there. Maggie was literally just being a friend. She didn’t mean to cause Harry any trouble.

“I’m sorry about Kendall,” Harry said just before they reached their complex. Maggie looked over at him questioningly. It was like he could read her mind or something.

“She’s not usually like that,” Harry continued.

“Yes, she is. You don’t have to apologize for her,” Maggie said, looking away from him.

“Yeah,” Harry said quietly and the car fell silent for the remainder of the ride.

Once they got home, they each walked up their respective sidewalks, but both stopped short of their doors.

“Thank you for coming with – you know, helping out,” Harry told her.

“Mm-hmm,” Maggie hummed, smiling sweetly at him.

It was nearly midnight and her eyes were so heavy and tired. Plus, she had her Environmental Law exam in the morning – an exam she was totally unprepared for now.

“It means a lot to me to have such a good friend living right next door,” Harry continued, smiling back at her.

“Mm-hmm,” she hummed and nodded. Harry chuckled at her. 

“You should get to bed. You look like you’re about to pass out right here,” Harry laughed.

“I might,” she said and smirked at him.

“Goodnight, Maggie May,” Harry said and stepped over the landscaping to pull her into a hug. _Oh!_ It woke her right up in an instant.

“’Night, Hazza,” she said as he pulled away.

“Thanks again for all your help,” he said as he stepped back onto his sidewalk.

“You’re welcome,” Maggie said, moving toward her door to unlock it.

They waved to each other one last time before they disappeared into their houses. Maggie shut her door and stood with her back against it, repeating the same mantra in her head that she always did when Harry did something really sweet or flirty: _He’s not worth it. He’s not worth it. He’s not worth it._

Ah, who was she kidding?


	5. {Five - Saint Valentine}

**February 2018**

It was Valentine’s Day and Maggie didn’t have a date. She also didn’t even have friends to go out with because they were all out with their own significant others. And even if her friends were available, she knew she wouldn’t be any fun anyway. She had class at eight in the morning the next day, which made going out pointless. So Maggie was sitting at home alone for another uneventful holiday and instead of studying or watching TV, she decided to go to bed early.

_Bad idea_.

Unfortunately for her, Harry’s condo floor plan was an exact mirror image of hers, meaning his bedroom wall connected with her bedroom wall. And even though she’d never been in his bedroom, she was certain his bed was pushed up against that connecting wall, much like her own.

After that night, she was pretty certain Harry wasn’t gay. Kendall was over and there were many, _many_ unnatural sex noises coming from beyond that wall.

Maggie tried to tune it out. She tried putting her pillow over her head. But nothing worked. Nothing could distract her from hearing the man she lusted over having sex with his banshee of a girlfriend. It was extreme torture. Maggie ripped the sheets and blankets off of her body and got up out of bed. Her stomach hurt, along with her heart.

She went to the kitchen to get a glass of wine, hoping it would help her sleep. Sleep was the only thing that was going to help her rid the visions of the two of them naked together.

Bringing the bottle with her to the living room, she sat down on the couch with her glass of Riesling. She turned on the TV for some distraction, but not a whole lot was on. She finished up an episode of _Friends_ , but an infomercial came on afterward, so she turned the TV off. Maggie pulled the blanket from the back of the couch around herself and walked out on the patio, sitting down at the table, looking up at the night sky. Sometimes she wished the stars were more visible in Los Angeles, but the smog prevented that.

For February, it was quite warm, which she appreciated. It was an unseasonable cold winter in California and it was nice to have warm weather again.

From somewhere deep inside of Harry’s house Maggie heard Kendall shout at Harry. She couldn’t make out what was being said, but next came Harry’s loud booming voice. They were fighting. Wasn’t the fight supposed to come before sex? Everyone knew angry make-up sex was the best. Maggie shook the thought from her mind. She’d rather they never had sex again. And they might not after their fight. They were really screaming at each other. Maggie wasn’t typically nosey, but she really wished she could hear what the fight was about.

“ _Fine!_ Have a great night, Harry!” Kendall screamed sarcastically. Of course, _that_ she could hear.

“Happy fucking Valentine’s Day!” Harry yelled back at her.

Seconds later, Maggie heard his front door slam. She felt bad for Harry. She didn’t know who started the fight or what it was about, but she still felt bad for her friend. She sat there for a little while wondering what Harry was doing or if he was okay. Pretty much every light in his house was on, so she knew he hadn’t gone to bed.

Just as she decided to go back inside her house and forget about everything that happened, she heard Harry’s patio door open. Hemingway ran out an instant later. Her heart stopped beating in her chest for a moment, thinking that Harry came out with the dog. She didn’t want him to think she was eavesdropping on him. When she didn’t see or hear him, she skid her chair back against the cement so she could get up and it made a terribly loud noise. She froze in place, hoping it wouldn’t alert Hemingway to her presence.

“Maggie?” She heard Harry question.

“Shit,” she breathed quietly under her breath. He did come out after all. A second later, Hemmy was running up to her at the table.

“Yeah,” she called out to Harry, knowing she’d been caught. He popped his head out from beyond the divider that was built for privacy between each resident’s patios.

“Hi,” she said, smiling timidly. She could feel her blush creeping up her face as she sat back down in her chair, petting Hemmy’s head.

Thank God she covered herself with a blanket because she was only wearing a camisole and some shorts.

“Hi,” he said, walking toward her.

_Good God_. He was only wearing a pair of black skinny jeans that were riding incredibly low on his hips, no boxers in sight. She could see all his definition – from his perfect “V”, up to his perfectly sculpted abdomen and chest that was adorned with countless tattoos. She was like a God damn cat in heat. She was certain she was about to jump up and mark him. Thankfully, she had more self-control than that, even if she couldn’t stop her brain from lapsing into _teenage girl crush mode_.

“How long have you been out here?” He asked curiously.

“A while. I couldn’t sleep,” she said as she began blushing again when she remembered _why_ she couldn’t sleep.

“Oh,” Harry said quietly sitting down in the chair next to her.

There were two other chairs that were further away, but he just _had_ to choose the one that was less than a foot away from hers. She secretly wondered if he took great pleasure in torturing her.

“I’m sorry if our fighting kept you awake,” Harry said timidly.

“No, no. It wasn’t that,” she said, waving it off. It most definitely wasn’t the _fighting_.

“Are you okay?” She asked, trying to read his expression. He seemed really sad.

“She just… she didn’t even want to spend the night with me. It’s Valentine’s Day. And she didn’t want to stay. She’s… she’s pulling away from me because she’s going to Paris soon for work,” Harry said, opening up to her.

“I’m sorry,” Maggie said quietly.

“Yeah,” he said, pulling himself forward to put his face in his hands. He was so close to her. So incredibly close. She could smell the alcohol on him the second he sat forward.

“Have you been drinking, Harry?” She asked and he looked up at her with wide-eyes.

“Yeah. We went out before we came back here,” he said, eyeing her bottle of wine.

“I see you’ve been drinking too,” he said with a smile.

“I couldn’t sleep. I figured this might help put me into a coma or something,” she joked.

“Mmm, this is good stuff too,” he said, grabbing the bottle to take a look at the label before putting it back on the table.

“I like my wine expensive,” she told him with a mischievous smirk and he chuckled.

“Want some?” She offered.

“Sure,” he said with a nod.

“I’ll grab you a glass,” she told him, getting up from her chair, forgetting how much skin she was showing.

She turned around to grab for the blanket and saw how Harry’s eyes immediately attached to her ass. It filled her with a sense of pride – or maybe it was lust. She couldn’t decipher the feeling. All she knew was that it made her feel desired, even if it was for something as trivial as the look of her backside. But it was Harry – and Harry was looking at her that way, so it mattered.

She walked into house sans the blanket and retrieved a clean wine glass for Harry from the cupboard. He smiled at her as she came back out. Hemingway was sitting in his lap, staring up at her hopefully.

“There’s my boy,” Maggie cooed at the puppy.

“Me or the dog?” Harry joked.

“Ha,” she let out a laugh as she sat down, handing him the empty wine glass. Harry chuckled as he poured himself a glass and then topped hers off.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Maggie May,” Harry said, holding up his glass for a toast.

“Happy Valentine’s Day,” she breathed, clinking her glass with his before they each took a sip. His eyes never left hers the whole time and it sent a shiver up her spine.

Her Valentine’s Day hadn’t been a waste after all. She had Harry and Hemmy next to her at the end of the night and she couldn’t think of anything better than that.

“Come here,” Maggie said to Hemmy as she grabbed him out of Harry’s lap, making sure to be careful of his surgical stitches.

“Aww, he was so warm,” Harry whined playfully.

“Well, I need a Valentine and Hemingway needs a Valentine... so what do you say, Hemmy? Will you be my Valentine?” Maggie asked, holding the puppy up to her face. He gave her a sweet little lick up her nose and she burst out laughing.

“I think that was a yes,” Harry laughed.

“Oh, I love you too, Hemmy,” Maggie said, hugging his cute little puppy body against her, while Harry watched the two of them with a wide smile on his face. 

“What?” She asked Harry as she placed the blanket on her lap and Hemmy on top of it.

“You,” he said.

“What about me?” She asked giving him a weird look.

“I love that you love Hemingway so much,” Harry said, continuing to smile at her.

“I _do_ love Hemingway,” she said, looking down at the dog, petting his head.

“He loves you, too,” Harry told her. Maggie looked up and smiled widely at him.

Harry’s eyes stayed on her and that damn smile stayed on his lips, so Maggie had to take a drink. He was making her uncomfortable and nervous and incredibly turned-on. He had no idea what he was doing to her – or did he? If he did, it was cruel. So she chose to believe he was clueless of the effect his charm had on her.

Finally he looked down at his own glass and took a sip, than another – then finally downed the whole glass.

“Would you like more?” She asked with a smirk.

“Yes, please. It’s good,” he smiled. Maggie poured him more and topped off her own.

They sat there for quite a while drinking and talking. Harry was an amazing conversationalist. He told her stories about life on the road and about all the shenanigans he and his friends get into. Maggie talked about her job at the library and her (not so) exciting school life.

There was something about the way the two of them were so entirely comfortable with each other that didn’t sit right with Maggie. It was probably because she trained herself long ago that falling in love with this untouchable man was bad – _straight up bad news_. She knew, in the end, that she was only going to get her heart broken, but she couldn’t stop it from happening. The love she had for Harry was unstoppable, like a speeding freight train about to run off the tracks.

But she at least had enough sense to try to make a move to put on the brakes.

“I-I should get to bed. I’ve got class in the morning,” she told him finally.

“Maggie May the genius,” he said with a drunken smirk. Every time she mentioned school, without fail, he would always call her that nickname and it made her heart flutter.

“Yeah. Something like that,” she said with a blush. Harry downed the rest of his glass – his fourth glass of wine since he’d been out there with her.

“It’s been fun, Maggie May,” he said, leaning in toward her.

_Oh, Jesus. Oh, Jesus Christ_. Her heart was in her throat. And then it happened…

Harry left the smallest of pecks on her lips. Maggie immediately stopped breathing. She stopped thinking. She stopped living for a moment.

His lips hovered over hers once he pulled back, but he wasn’t moving. He wasn’t leaving. When her breathing hitched in her throat, he pressed his lips harder against hers. _Holy Jesus_.

She didn’t know what it was, the moonlight, the wine or the heat pooling between her legs, but she went for it with gusto. She kissed him like she’d never kissed anyone before in her life. It was Harry Styles after all – she wouldn’t be getting the opportunity twice.

He parted her lips and she felt the sweet velvet of his tongue against her own. He tasted of the wine they were drinking, but he also tasted of lust – a heavy, _heavy_ dose of lust. It was lips and teeth and tongue and lust. And she knew it was bad. She knew it wasn’t right. He may have just had a fight with Kendall, but they were still together. It wasn’t right.

Maggie’s hands found the bareness of his chest and pushed him lightly away. His lips left hers and a small gasp left her own, knowing how foolish she was being – she would never get the chance again. But she didn’t want him like that – drunk and pissed off at his girlfriend. If she were to have Harry, she wanted him to actually want her and she wanted him to be able to actually remember wanting her in the morning.

Harry’s eyes stared into Maggie’s, searching for a reason as to why she stopped him.

“I think we should just… slow down,” she breathed quietly and he nodded in agreement.

“We’re drunk and being irresponsible. You… you have a girlfriend,” she continued to explain and he nodded again.

“I really should get to bed,” she told him and she watched as he once again nodded.

_Okay, why was she the only one saying anything?_

“Sorry, Hemingway. I kissed your Valentine,” Harry said with a smirk as he picked up his dog from Maggie’s lap. Maggie couldn’t help the smile that pulled up her lips. Harry was so adorable and it made her heart melt.

“He’s not going to let you hear the end of it,” she joked, trying to keep the moment light.

“Don’t I know it,” Harry said, rolling his eyes playfully as he smiled at her before standing up from the chair and setting Hemingway on the ground.

Maggie stood up too, throwing the blanket over her shoulder, grabbing the wine glasses in one hand and the empty wine bottle in the other.

“Do you need help bringing them inside?” Harry asked.

“No. I think I’ve got it,” she told him with an appreciative smile.

She knew if he were to come inside, her raging libido probably wouldn’t let him leave until the morning. So it was probably best if he just went home. She walked toward her patio door to call it a night.

“Goodnight, Maggie May,” she heard Harry say.

“’Night, Hazza,” she breathed through a smile as she went inside, closing the door behind her.

_Oh, good Lord_. She couldn’t deny it – _best_ Valentine’s Day ever.


	6. {Six - The Studio}

**February 2018**

Maggie kept herself incredibly busy for the next couple of days. Between work and school, it was an easy task. She spent all her free time sitting in the dank library where she worked studying her ass off for a make-up exam her professor granted her after she bombed the last Environmental Law exam after Hemmy had surgery. She needed to ace the make-up exam or she could kiss her 4.0 GPA goodbye. And she really wanted that 4.0 – like _bad_. She was in her fourth year of school and she kept her 4.0 throughout the entirety. Dean’s list. Honor roll. They were all earned by her and it felt good. But now… now it was all riding on this one exam. She needed to study – keep her nose in the books. She needed to eat, sleep, and breathe Environmental Law for the next 48 hours.

When she got home that night, Harry was sitting on his front stoop watching Hemmy out in the yard. He was wearing a white v-neck t-shirt, a pair of grey sweat pants and Nike running shoes. It was a rare occasion to see him so dressed down - and _damn_ , did he look sexy. It was nearly eleven and she wondered why Harry was outside at such a late hour.

Hemmy ran to her as soon as she walked through the gate. She immediately dropped her book bag and purse on the sidewalk to greet the puppy.

“Oh, my baby. I’ve missed you,” Maggie cooed, taking Hemmy in her arms, letting him kiss her face.

“He’s missed you, too,” Harry said, suddenly standing surprisingly close to her.

“Oh, Harry. You startled me,” she breathed, holding her hand over her racing heart.

“Sorry,” he said with a snort.

“Where’ve you been all my life?” He asked. The way he said it made her heart flutter, but she knew he was exaggerating quite a bit.

“Oh, I’ve been really cramming for this Environmental Law exam. I did pretty shitty on the last one. I need to really step it up for the next one,” she told him, still holding his fidgeting dog in her arms.

“Maggie May the genius,” Harry quipped.

“Maggie May the failure if I don’t do well on this exam,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“You could never be a failure,” Harry told her, looking too incredibly sincere for her to even handle.

“I will if I break my 4.0 record,” she retorted.

“4.0? You have a record of 4.0’s?” Harry asked, his eyes going wide.

“Yeah. Every semester for four years. Nothing lower,” she told him proudly.

“ _Holy shit!_ You really are a genius!” He laughed, looking astonished and impressed.

“No,” she said, shaking her head bashfully.

“Wow, Maggie. Every time I talk to you, you seem to impress me more,” Harry said, smiling widely at her.

“Impress you?” She asked a little taken aback by his words.

“Yeah, _damn_. I don’t deserve to be in your presence. You’re the queen of the honor roll,” he laughed.

“You, mister international rock star, don’t deserve to be in _my_ presence? _Moi?_ Little ol’ me?” Maggie joked.

“You are one intimidating woman, Maggie May,” he told her with a fascinated smile.

“Intimidating? No one has ever used that as a describing word for me. Maybe timid? Shy? Nerdy?” She told him.

“You’ve been talking to the wrong people,” Harry laughed.

Hemmy was wiggling in Maggie’s arms to get down, so she put him down on the sidewalk and he ran off toward his toy in the yard. Harry was still looking at her when she looked back at him after retrieving her book bag and purse.

“Are you alright?” She asked curiously.

“Mm-hmm,” he hummed and nodded his head.

“Is everything alright with you and Kendall?” She asked, changing the subject. He waved his hand through the air, making a ‘so-so’ motion.

“Do you want to talk about it?” She asked. As much as she didn’t want details about his and Kendall’s relationship, she prided herself in being his friend. She never wanted her own feelings to get in the way of that.

“Nah, not right now,” he said, shrugging his shoulders.        

“Okay. I should be getting to bed, though. I’ve got class at eight,” she told him.

“Okay,” he said, nodding his head.

“’Night, Harry,” she said, moving passed him on the sidewalk, heading to her door.

“Goodnight, Maggie May,” he said from behind her.

Maggie got to her door and unlocked it before she heard Harry call for Hemingway. She turned around only to see Hemingway standing in her front yard staring at her.

“Hemmy, go to your daddy,” Maggie told the puppy.

“Come on, Hemingway,” Harry said, patting his leg.

“Go on, Hemmy,” she said, trying to shoo him. Hemingway didn’t make a move. He just stared at her and her open door.

“I’ve officially lost him,” Harry laughed as he walked toward his stubborn bulldod. Maggie giggled to herself, knowing it was the truth.

“You might as well take him now,” Harry joked.

“Hey, what can I say – that boy loves me,” Maggie said confidently.

“He does,” Harry nodded with a smile and he picked up his dog.

“Goodnight, boys,” Maggie laughed, going into her house for the night.

“’Night, Maggie May,” Harry said as he stepped over the landscaping onto his sidewalk.

As Maggie closed her front door, she could only think about how eternally grateful she was that there was no weirdness between her and Harry after the kiss they shared the last time they saw each other.

 

Two days later, after hours and hours of studying, Maggie took her Environmental Law make-up exam. She felt a weight lift from her shoulder once she handed it in to her professor. Although she wouldn’t know right away if she did any better than she did the first time, she had a gut feeling she’d done lightyears better. She was completely prepared and knew the material after hours upon hours of studying.

She went home feeling relief because she wasn’t going home to stick her nose in a book. She could go home and relax, maybe have a glass of wine. She could be a relaxed twenty-one year old, instead of one that needed constant chiropractic visits and trips to the doctor to check her blood-pressure. She couldn’t wait for summer to finally come. She decided not to take summer classes for the first time since she started school. It was going to be a summer of great relaxation.

She parked her car next to Harry’s _Range Rover_ in the parking lot and as soon as she walked up, she noticed Hemmy in the yard and Harry on his stoop. But there was another guy next to him, who she noticed as Harry’s bandmate, Liam. _Hot damn_ , two boy banders for the price of one.

“MAGGIE MAY!” Harry yelped, standing up from the step.

“Hey, Harry,” she said, opening the gate and walking into the courtyard.

“How’d you do on your exam?” He asked, walking toward her. Maggie noticed Liam stand up too.

“Don’t know. I guess I’ll know next week,” she said with a shrug.

“Next week? Do they make it a point to torture their students?” Harry asked incredulously.

“I think it’s written in the school handbook somewhere,” she quipped, causing Harry and Liam to both chuckled.

“Hey, Maggie. This is my mate Liam. Liam, this is my neighbor, Maggie,” Harry said, introducing them.

“Nice to meet you,” Liam said, shaking her hand with a shy smile on his face. She couldn’t deny it – that boy was cute. Most definitely cute.

“What are you guys up to today?” She asked with a smile on her face.

“We’re headed to the studio,” Liam told her. She gave them an odd look, knowing that _One Direction_ was on an indefinite hiatus.

“Harry is working on a solo album,” Liam clarified for her.

“What? No way,” she said and looking at Harry wide-eyed.

“Yeah,” Harry said, looking bashful.

Maggie noticed from the corner of her eye that another boy come out of Harry’s house – a boy she recognized from _One Direction_ and the internet rumors about Harry and his sexuality. _Louis Tomlinson._

“Ah, Louis. Come meet Maggie,” Harry said, waving his other friend over.

“What’s up? You must be the neighbor,” Louis said, smiling widely at her. Maggie’s heart sped up. Did Harry talk about her with his friends?

“Yeah. I’m Maggie,” she said, shaking his hand.

“Louis,” he said, still smiling at her.

“Nice to meet you,” she told him.

“So, Mags. Are you busy?” Harry asked and her attention was cut back to her crush.

“Do you need me to watch Hemmy or something?” She asked immediately, looking over to the yard to spot Hemmy eating a patch of grass.

“Nah. He’ll be fine in his kennel for a little while. I was wondering if you wanted to maybe tag along. Get a sneak peek at my new music,” Harry said with a sideways smirk.

“Are you serious?” She asked excitedly.

“Yeah. Come on,” he said, waving his arm through the air.

“Let me go drop off my books,” she told him quickly.

“Alright,” he smiled.

Maggie raced into her house and threw her book bag on her bed. Quickly, she threw off the Mickey Mouse t-shirt she was wearing and put on a fresh tank top – one she hadn’t fallen asleep in the night before. She put a clean hoodie on over it after she applied a nice coating of deodorant on her pits. She squirted several sprays of her vanilla body mist all over her body before checking her makeup in the mirror. Luckily it was still looking good. Quickly, she jetted to her bathroom and swished a little mouth wash before deciding she was taking much too long and she should really be getting back to the three hot, famous boys waiting on her outside.

When Maggie finally came back out, Harry was just locking up his door and the other two were waiting in Liam’s car for them.

“Ready?” Harry asked.

“Ready,” she smiled, pushing her keys into her purse.

They got into the back seat of Liam’s super sexy _Mercedes_ and headed off to the studio. Hearing stuff from Harry’s new solo album was phenomenal. His voice – _oh, Jesus Lord_. His voice did things to her that could make a grown woman blush. Kendall was an extremely lucky woman – _extremely_ lucky.

While Harry was recording, Maggie got to sit and talk with Liam and Louis for a bit. Both of them were incredibly funny and charming – that British charm and all. They both seemed to be flirting with her quite a bit. But seeing as Louis talked several times about his girlfriend, she knew he was off limits. Liam on the other hand never mentioned being spoken for, so she decided to set her sights on him – even though Harry was still heavy on her mind. But Liam was incredibly cute and sweet – and yeah, she knew he was her crushes mate, but Harry had a god damn girlfriend.

When Harry called Liam and Louis over to see something, Maggie took the chance and excused herself to use the ladies room. After using the facilities, she walked back into the studio unnoticed, and heard Louis and Harry talking.

“Maggie – she’s pretty hot,” Louis told Harry. Maggie noticed Harry shoot Louis a look like ‘stfu’.

“Come on, mate. She is. If I wasn’t dating Danielle… _mmm_ ,” Louis said bluntly. _Mmm?_ At least that confirmed to Maggie that Louis and Harry weren’t in the rumored relationship she read about on the internet.

“That’s my friend you’re talking about,” Harry told him sternly.

Harry’s words shot through her like a bullet through the heart and reverberated through her brain. That’s my _friend_. That’s my _friend_. That’s my _friend_.

It didn’t matter that they shared a very steamy, passionate kiss on Valentine’s Day. It didn’t matter that if she hadn’t stopped mid-kiss that something more permanent – more damaging to their _friendship_ , to his relationship with Kendall would have happened. It didn’t matter that he always flirted with her practically non-stop. It only proved that he was drunk and horny. And that he would do anything – including flirt with someone like her to ensure he had a place to dump off his dog when he went out of town. And he fucking went out of town _often_.

Maggie was angry. She walked toward Liam immediately instead of Harry and she knew he saw.

“I think I’m going to head out. It was nice meeting you,” she told Liam in his ear.

She was pretty certain from Harry’s distance it looked like she was whispering sweet nothing’s in his ear, but she didn’t care. They were just friends, right?

“Are you sure? I can give you a ride,” Liam said, standing up to talk to her at eye level.

“Nah. I can call an Uber,” she told him, waving the suggestion off.

“Are you sure?” He asked.

“Yeah,” she said finally.

“Come here,” Liam said, pulling her into a hug.

She caught Harry’s expression – the flare in his eyes as she hugged his friend. She could see that he didn’t like the closeness between them, but again, she didn’t care.

“Actually, would you mind giving me a ride?” Maggie asked him as they broke the hug.

“Yeah, that’s cool. Let me get my jacket,” Liam told her. Maggie walked over to Harry who was still sitting with Louis.

“Liam’s going to give me a ride home,” she told Harry.

“Why are you leaving?” Harry shot at her.

“I’m pretty tired. I’ve been awake since six this morning,” she told him, which wasn’t a lie.

“We’re not going to be here that much longer. We can grab some dinner and take it home if you just wait,” Harry offered.

“Nah. Liam will just give me a ride. I can check on Hemmy if you want me too,” she told him.

“No, thanks,” he told her and she immediately sensed bitterness in his tone.

“Fine. See you later. Nice meeting you, Louis,” she said, being short with Harry on purpose.

“You too, love,” Louis said. She smiled widely at him, then sent Harry a look before turning away to leave Liam.

As Liam brought Maggie home, it was much less awkward than she thought it might be. They kept up easy conversation, even though her mind was on Harry and his pissy attitude the whole time. Liam said ‘goodnight’ to Maggie in the car with another hug and then she went home.

She couldn’t keep Harry off of her mind for the rest of the night – especially when he brought Kendall home with him and fucked her brains out loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear.

Maggie decided to sleep on the couch that night, thinking the whole time, _“he’s definitely not worth it.”_


	7. {Seven - Drag Me Down}

**March 2018**

Maggie didn’t talk to Harry for almost a week after their little spat in the studio – and he didn’t talk to her either. Besides a polite hello if they saw each other in the courtyard, they didn’t have anything else to say. It was as if they were being polite to each other for the child – the child being Hemmy, of course. Maggie still needed Hemmy in her life and that dog would be mush without her.

It wasn’t until Saturday of the following week – nine days since their little quarrel at the studio – that Harry showed up at her door. It was the same day she found out the worst news of her life – she received a B on her Environmental Law exam and it brought her GPA down to 3.8. She was devastated.

“What do you want, Harry?” Maggie asked, annoyed to see his face _that_ night of all nights.

“Kendall broke up with me,” he blurted out. She looked straight into his eyes and she could see he was seconds away from falling apart.

“Come in,” she said without hesitation.

He fell into her arms and she wrapped him into a hug. She felt bad for him. _That heartless bitch_. She could hear the faint sounds of him crying against her shoulder. _Oh, God_. He was breaking down in front of her and she didn’t know what to do. She wanted to cry with him – for him and for her.

“If it makes you feel any better, my GPA dropped to 3.8,” she told him.

“No!” He gasped, pulling away, looking straight into her eyes. She nodded weakly as her tears began to pool in her eyes and he pulled her into another tight hug. Her GPA meant so much to her and all that work was now tainted.

“Look at us, we’re pathetic,” Harry said, wiping his eyes.

“We kind of are,” Maggie chuckled as she wiped her eyes as well.

“We should go out. Get some food or something. Get _really_ drunk,” Harry suggested. That idea didn’t sound half bad to her at all.

“That sounds perfect,” she said, perking up a bit.

“Go on. Get ready,” Harry said, nodding toward the stairs.

“Okay,” she smiled and walked up toward her bedroom.

She changed out of her sweats that she was sulking in and put on a pair of denim skinny jeans and an old _Hurley_ hoodie she had from high school. It was beat up, but so were her spirits and she wasn’t really looking to impress anyone. She was, after all, going out to get blitzed with her neighbor who she had a secret crush on, but could never have. She _was_ pathetic, a lost cause.

“Are you almost ready?” Maggie heard Harry at her bedroom door.

“Yeah… uh, I just have to grab my purse,” she told him.

“Your house freaks me out,” Harry said from outside her doorway.

“Why’s that?” She asked curiously.

“Because it’s exactly mine, but backwards. My bed is even in the same place. We’ve slept head to head with just a wall in-between us for months,” he chuckled. _Ah-ha!_ She suspected it all along.

“That is kind of weird,” she chuckled.

They walked out together and headed toward the front yard.

“Do you just want to go to _Hoolihan’s_ down the street? That way neither of us has to drive and we don’t have to worry about getting home,” Harry suggested.

“Sounds good,” she told him.

All she knew about _Hoolihan’s_ was that it was an Irish Pub in the neighborhood. She was never much for going out. Her now tarnished 4.0 GPA didn’t allow it. Thinking about it again almost had her in tears, but then she remembered that Harry’s heart was broken and she didn’t feel so down on herself.

She looked up at him as they walked down the sidewalk, he looked so sad, staring at his feet. He usually walked with more authority, with more confidence – but she could see that his confidence was shattered.

“I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you for a week,” she told him.

“Why didn’t you?” He asked, looking up at her.

“Why didn’t _you_ talk to me?” she asked, turning the question back on him.

“Because you weren’t talking to me,” he said simply.

“I wasn’t talking to you because you seemed angry with me for some reason when I left the studio with Liam,” she told him.

“You seemed angry at me when you left the studio,” Harry countered.

“I said goodbye to you,” she told him.

“I said goodbye to you!” He shot back.

“No, you didn’t. You asked me why I was leaving in a very _pissy_ tone,” she told him.

“I just didn’t see why you wanted to leave so early. We weren’t even there that long. I mean, I invited you to hang out and you didn’t even want to,” Harry explained.

“I was tired. I’m sorry,” she said, deciding that hiding the truth would be best for both of them.

“I’m sorry, too,” he said quietly.

They fell into a comfortable silence for the last couple blocks of their walk before they finally arrived at their destination. Harry held the door open for Maggie and pulled out her barstool at the bar. It was ridiculous how nice he was being.

“Are you ready to get pissed?” Harry asked as the bartender came their way.

“I guess so,” she smirked at him, really appreciating his British accent in that moment. _Pissed_ meant something completely different in America.

“You guess so? Let me hear the enthusiasm, Maggie May!” Harry said excitedly. He was acting giddy and it was endearing. Maggie let out a laugh.

“Bring it, Styles!” She told him enthusiastically.

“Yeah, that’s more like it!” Harry said, grabbing her wrist and throwing it in the air.

“What can I get you?” The bartender asked.

“Four double shots of tequila and two of whatever beer you have on tap,” Harry ordered.

“Coming right up,” the bartender said and went to getting their liquor.

“Four double shots?” Maggie asked Harry.

“We’re getting plowed tonight, baby!” He laughed.

“Oh, _Jesus_ ,” Maggie laughed.

Once the shots were in front of them – two in front of Harry, two in front of Maggie – Harry was practically bouncing up and down on his stool. For someone who just got his heart ripped out, he sure as hell was acting goofy.

“Ready?” Harry asked.

“Are we doing both of them right off the bat?” She asked.

“Hell, yeah. Come on,” Harry said, slamming his hand down on the bar top.

“Are you joking right now? I don’t drink like this, Harry. I have the tolerance level of a cat. I will probably die from one of these shots,” she told him seriously.

“Maggie May, you better drink with me right now!” Harry coaxed.

“ _Ugh_ , Harry!” She whined.

“Now!” He demanded.

“Damn it,” she grumbled, grabbing her first shot.

“Ready? 3, 2, 1,” Harry counted down and the two of them took their shot and chased it with their beers. _Down the hatch_.

“Oh, Jesus _Lord_ ,” Maggie hissed, shaking her head, making a sourpuss face.

“ _Ooh_ , feel the burn,” Harry hissed, breathing in deeply.

“Yeah, it’s burning a hole right through my esophagus,” she told him.

“It’ll put hair on your chest,” Harry laughed.

“Yeah, just one more unflattering quality to add to my expansive list,” Maggie said, rolling her eyes.

“What are you talking about? You’re _beautiful_ ,” Harry scoffed at her and she rolled her eyes again.

“Has that tequila already gone to your head?” Maggie laughed.

“Maggie May, you are completely _mad_ if you think you’re not beautiful,” Harry told her seriously.

“ _Pssssh_ ,” Maggie said and this time, Harry rolled his eyes at her.

“Next shot,” Maggie said, trying to change the subject.

“’Atta girl!” He laughed as they both grabbed their next shot.

“What should we toast to?” She asked.

“To our shitty lives!” Harry said, holding up his shot glass.

“Ha, okay! To our shitty lives!” Maggie laughed, clinking her shot glass with his.

“3, 2, 1!” Harry counted it down again. _Cheers. Swig. Ahh._

“Burn baby, burn,” Maggie breathed.

“Most definitely,” Harry hissed, taking a swig of beer. Maggie couldn’t help but look over at him and smile.

“It’s good, right?” He asked, nudging her.

“Oh, yeah,” she said sarcastically, realizing then that Harry Styles might be the devil in sheep’s clothing.

Maggie could already feel the alcohol taking effect. Her cheeks were red from the blood pooling in them and her eyes were fuzzy, feeling warm and weird. She’d gotten drunk off of wine before, but never hard liquor.

“Harry, I really don’t want to spend the whole night puking. So please, let’s hold off on the shots,” she told him.

“Sure thing, Maggie May,” Harry smiled at her, looking goofy and she knew he was feeling the alcohol too.

“You’re funny,” she told him.

“ _You’re_ funny,” he told her back as Maggie took another sip of her beer.

“So Maggie, how come you don’t have a boyfriend?” Harry asked and she almost choked on the beer she was trying to swallow.

“Uh…” She stammered, wiping her mouth, unsure of how to answer a question like that.

“I’ve never even seen you with a bloke,” Harry said, looking at her for an answer.

“A 4.0 GPA doesn’t leave me much free time,” she told him honestly.

“But you’ve dated, right?” Harry asked curiously.

“Well, yeah. Who do you think I am? A nun?” She laughed.

“Well no, but… I don’t know,” he said with a shrug.

“I had a steady boyfriend all throughout high school – Jamie. But once I got into college and moved six hours away, he started cheating on me with high school girls. It really does awesome things for a girl’s self-esteem, ya know,” Maggie told him.

“What a wanker,” Harry said, taking a sip of beer.

“Yeah well, I’m over it,” she said, drinking her own beer.

“Did you date anyone after?” Harry asked, continuing the conversation.

“Oh, yeah. A couple of one night stands – and I didn’t get the nickname ‘the blow job queen’ for nothing,” Maggie joked. Harry’s eyes widened and Maggie was sure they were about to pop out of his head. She burst out laughing.

“I’m kidding!” She giggled.

“Oh, _Jesus_. Ha,” Harry laughed.

“No, I didn’t really date. But I did have a couple of one night stands. _Eh_ , it was college,” she said, shrugging her shoulders and Harry nodded.

“Do you regret not dating more?” He asked.

“Not really. I never really met anyone that tickled my fancy,” she smiled at him, thinking in her mind that she’d like him to tickle her fancy.

“Tickled your fancy, huh?” Harry smirked at her.

“Oh, are we being perverted now?” She laughed, quirking an eyebrow.

“I don’t know. Are we, _blow job queen?”_ Harry joked. Maggie burst out laughing again. She was drunk – she was definitely drunk.

“You’re fun to be around, Mags,” Harry said seriously.

“You’re fun too, Harry,” she told him, practically staring at him because she couldn’t stop herself anymore. _God, she loved him_.

Their conversation never stopped as they sat at the bar drinking beers and enjoying each other’s company. And it was even more fun when Maggie went to the jukebox and put on ‘Drag Me Down’ by _One Direction_. She eventually persuaded Harry to get up and dance with her. He was embarrassed at first, but slowly got into it.

_“I’ve got fire for a heart. I’m not scared of the dark. You’ve never seen it look so easy. I’ve got a river for a soul and baby, you’re a boat. Baby, you’re my only reason,”_ Maggie belted out over Harry’s pre-recorded voice.

“I had no idea, Maggie. I had no idea,” Harry smirked as he shook his head.

“What?” She smiled at him.

“That you were a closet _One Direction_ fan,” he smirked at her.

“I’m a Harry Styles fan!” She said drunkly as she grabbed his wrists and moved them to the music. 

_“All my life you stood by me when nobody else was ever behind me. All these lights, they can’t blind me. With your love, nobody can drag me down,”_ Maggie belted out as she grinded her body against Harry’s. And then, finally – _finally_ , Harry started singing with her.

_“Nobody, nobody. Nobody can drag me down. Nobody, nobody,”_ they both sang.

They continued dancing and singing through the whole song, having a total blast with each other. Maggie couldn’t help but press her body against his while they danced. For one, it was Harry Styles and for two, she was way beyond drunk and couldn’t stay upright very well.

As the song ended and Harry’s pre-recorded voice hit the high notes, so did the two of them. They both nailed it and then laughed out loud as the final notes of the song played through.

“You wanna get out of here?” Harry whispered in her ear when the next song started on the jukebox.

“Yeah,” she said immediately, looking into his eyes.

The two of them walked to the bar to drink the rest of their beer and pay the tab.

“That was the most fun I’ve ever had singing ‘Drag Me Down’ and I’ve sang that song _a lot_ ,” Harry said, smiling at Maggie.

“Aww, I’m glad,” she said, smiling widely at him.

“You’re so much fun, Mags,” he told her.

“Let’s do one more shot, Hazza,” Maggie insisted on a whim.

“Are you sure?” He asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“Yep,” she nodded, sitting down on her barstool again.

“Okay. Tequila?” He asked.

“TEQUILA!” She cheered.

The bartender was all over that, pouring out two more double shots for them.

“1, 2, GO!” Maggie said, counting it down that time. She was completely plastered.

“ _Mmm_ , it never stops burning,” Harry laughed.

“Ah, this tequila can’t _drag me down!”_ Maggie belted out again. Harry laughed as he pulled a one hundred dollar bill from his wallet and threw it down.

“A hundred dollars!?” Maggie laughed.

“Shh, let’s go,” Harry said playfully.

“Did we seriously drink a hundred dollars in alcohol?” Maggie asked him seriously.

“Let’s go Lushy McLusherton,” Harry laughed as he guided her out of the bar.

“Lushy Mc-whaty-what?” Maggie laughed hysterically.

“Lord, you are out of control,” Harry laughed.

“Outta control!” She laughed as they exited the bar out onto the sidewalk.

“Holy shit. We have a long walk,” Maggie said, taking a deep breath.

“Do you think you can make it? I can call an Uber,” Harry offered.

“How far is it?” She asked.

“Six blocks,” Harry told her.

“ _Psssh_ , that’s nothing,” Maggie laughed and started walking, but it was more like stumbling.

“Alright,” Harry laughed and fell into step with her.

They got about two blocks before Maggie needed to sit down on a bus bench and take a rest.

“Why don’t I give you a piggyback ride?” Harry offered.

“Mmm, YES!” Maggie said, jumping on his back without warning.

“Jesus, Maggie May! A little heads up, next time,” he said, grabbing onto her thighs to keep her up. Maggie wrapped her arms around his neck and he started walking toward home.

“Onward my trusty steed!” Maggie laughed.

“You better watch it, or I’ll buck you right off,” Harry laughed as he hopped around a little with her on his back.

“Harry Edward Styles! You better not!” Maggie scolded and he laughed.

Once they made it back to their gate, he put her down so he could unlock it. He let Maggie in and then made sure it was shut behind him.

“Harry, I don’t want this night to end,” she said, giving him a pouty lip.

“Well, what do you want to do?” He asked, looking at her curiously.

“I wanna see Hemmy,” she said, still giving him the pouty lip.

“Come on,” he said as they headed to his door.

“Yay!” She said, clapping amusingly. She had no idea how annoying she was being – sober Maggie would probably slap the shit out of drunk Maggie.

Harry unlocked his door and let her in first, turning on the entryway light in the process.

“This _is_ weird. It’s all ass-backwards,” Maggie laughed at Harry’s previous comment about their houses being the exact opposite. It wasn’t like she’d never been in Harry’s house before, she had – it was just the bedroom that she hadn’t seen.

“I told you,” he smiled proudly.

“Isn’t it weird how just a few hours ago we were standing in my entryway crying?” Maggie asked him.

“Mm-hmm,” Harry hummed, staring at her.

“I’m glad we’re feeling better,” she said quietly, her giddy mood fading as his eyes bore into hers.

“You know what I’ve always wondered, Maggie May?” Harry asked, inching incredibly close to her. She could spot that glazed, glassy look in his eyes a mile away – _lust_.

“Hmm,” she breathed, and suddenly she felt her back meet with the foyer wall.

“If you’re anything like the Maggie May from the song,” he said, moving in closer and closer.

“I don’t know,” Maggie said, swallowing hard.

“ _You turned into a lover and mother what a lover, you wore me out,”_ Harry sang seductively as he put his hands on the wall on either side of her.

And then his body was pressed against hers – and then his lips.

_Oh, God_. This might be worth it.


	8. {Eight - Breathless}

_Was she in Heaven?_ She wasn’t sure. All she knew was, in her mind, Harry Styles could walk on water and then turn it into wine. His lips were on her and his hands were on her hips, pushing up the hem of her sweatshirt. Her back was pressed against the wall as his hardness dug into her pelvic area – _oh, god_. Harry Styles wanted her – _he wanted her_.

“Oh my god, Harry,” Maggie moaned as his kisses trailed down the expanse of her neck.

“ _Mm_ ,” he hummed against her heated skin.

She told herself she wanted Harry to truly want her and to be able to remember wanting her in the morning, but _Dear God_ , when his lips were on her like that and his thumbs were rubbing circles against her hip bones – _damn it_ , she was lost. Maggie broke away from him only to grab at the hem of her shirt and sweatshirt, pulling them over her head in one fell swoop. Harry’s eyes stayed steady on her, before moving them down to take in the view of her bra-clad chest.

“You are so beautiful, Maggie,” Harry breathed as his hands came up to cup her breasts.

“ _Mm_ ,” she moaned as Harry’s lips met hers again.

She wanted this. She wanted this so bad. It had been two years since she’d been touched by a man. Two lonely years and she was ready – she was ready for Harry.

“Maggie. Oh, God,” Harry breathed restlessly.

“Harry,” she moaned as she pulled off his jacket.

Seconds later, his mouth and hands left her body and he turned his back to her. _Wha-what?_

“Hop on,” he said, smirking over his shoulder at her. Maggie let a large grin spread across her face before she jumped on his back for another piggyback ride.

He walked them up the stairs and down the hallway to his bedroom. And there she was, finally in the confines of his sanctuary – the room she wondered so much about. There was a large king-sized bed with dark grey sheets and black blankets. The walls were mostly bare, with just a large picture of a black and white winter tree above his bed. It was his inner sanctum and Maggie was invited in.

He backed up to the bed and dropped her down onto it. She giggled when her back hit the mattress.

“You are so goofy,” Harry said, looking down at her.

“Am not,” she giggled drunkly.

“Are too,” he smiled as he pulled off his shirt, revealing all of his tattoos to her. She’d give anything to study them – to know the meaning behind them all.

Maggie’s smile faded as she was immediately rushed back to the situation at hand. She was about to have sex with Harry Styles. It was her fantasy for the past five months and it almost scared her. She took a sharp breath in and he noticed.

“Are you alright?” He asked, looking at her concerned.

“Perfect,” she said, smiling up at him.

“ _You_ are perfect,” he said, lowering himself down to kiss her.

“ _Baby, I’m perfect. Perfect for you_ …” Maggie sang another snippet of a _One Direction_ song.

Harry laughed out loud as Maggie let her fingers dance across the taut muscles of his abdomen. He leaned in and she smiled against his lips before they met with hers.

A moment later, Maggie pushed against his chest. Harry sat down to the side of her, giving her a questioning look as she stood up and began unbuckling his belt. Immediately a grin formed on his face. His hand found the small of her back and pulled her to him. Maggie’s efforts to rid him of his pants were fruitless against his advances. He began undoing her jeans instead, pulling them down over her hips, stopping once her panty-clad backside was hanging out. His hands greedily grasp handfuls of it, causing Maggie to smile. He’d definitely checked it out often enough. It was like he was coming full circle, finally being able to touch it.

“ _Gorgeous_ ,” he breathed, squeezing the flesh between his fingertips.

He was on a _sexploration_ like he was God damn Christopher Columbus. One hand held onto her ass and the other came around the front, rubbing against her pelvic area just above her panty line before he dipped his hand down cupping her mound.

“Mmm,” Maggie breathed as her head fell backwards. _Magic hands, definitely magic hands_.

Then in an instant his hands went back to ridding her of her jeans, pulling them down her long slender legs. She had to grab hold of his shoulder blades to steady herself as he helped her step out of the pants. Had she known she would be having sex, she would have at least matched her bra and panties. But alas, she was standing in front of him in an electric blue bra and pale pink panties. _Note to self: buy new sexy undergarments._

His eyes didn’t seem to mind though. He looked on with great amazement. Feeling the undeniable twinge of self-consciousness, Maggie went back to unbuttoning his jeans. She wanted to see him. Harry’s hands snaked up, groping at her breasts as she worked his zipper down. His horny little hands were making it hard to undress him.

“Lie back,” she commanded, maneuvering him onto the bed. He smirked, but did as he was told.

He sat back on his elbows, still easily looking at her. Her fingers grasped onto his jeans and pulled them down off of him as he lifted his hips for her. His erection was jutting out his boxer briefs in the sexiest of ways and it only made the excitement in the pit of her stomach increase.

Maggie pulled his boxers off next, not wanting to be denied any longer of the opportunity to see him stark naked. Her eyes raked over his proportions and she wondered how on earth this man had been blessed with damn near everything in his life.

_Dear God_ , he left her breathless.

Instead of standing there staring at him like a voyeur, Maggie sank to her knees in front of him. He sat up instantaneously, looking down at her.

“Maggie…” He breathed, but she didn’t stop. She grabbed onto him and let her mouth close around the head of his penis.

“ _Christ_ ,” he breathed, letting his upper weight fall back onto his elbows.

Her mouth bobbed on his shaft gracefully – her tongue licking up and down and around the head, causing Harry to let out a guttural moan. She moved her mouth and hand up and down on his shaft for many synchronized successions before he was gripping at her shoulder to stop her.

“I’m… I’m gonna…” He breathed as his body stiffened, trying not to come too soon.

Maggie pulled her mouth up and off of his penis, resting her hands on his bare thighs, but still knelt between his legs.

“That was… _Oh, God_ ,” Harry said, running his fingers through his wild hair. Maggie smiled up at him, pleased that she could make him feel so good.

“Most definitely ‘the blow job queen’,” Harry quipped and Maggie burst out laughing.

“ _Ah-ha-ha_. Oh my god,” she laughed.

“Come here,” he said, helping her up toward him.

Once she was standing between his legs, her hands snaked back behind her and unlatched her bra, letting it fall forward. She removed it from her body and tossed it on his bedroom floor. She watched as his eyes washed over her breasts before he sat forward, cupping them in his hands. He was so gentle and his skin was so soft against hers. Harry licked his lips before his mouth wrapped hungrily around her right nipple and all her peaceful thoughts were stripped away, replaced with a carnal desire deep down inside her.

“ _Oh_ , Harry,” she moaned.

His hand kneaded her breast as his tongue worked over the rapidly hardening nipple. Maggie wondered how much of it was instinct and how much of it was learned behavior, because he sure as hell knew what he was doing. Making an effort not to play favorites, Harry moved on to her neglected left nipple, causing her to moan again.

“Oh, please, Harry. Please,” Maggie begged.

His hands tickled down her sides to rest on her hips as his mouth finished its dance around her nipples. Without hesitation, his fingers gripped at the sides of her panties and pulled them down her legs. She casually stepped out of them and kicked them aside as he now had a full view of her naked body. She was grateful that she kept up on regular grooming, even though she hadn’t had sex in years.

Harry kissed both her hips and then just below her belly button before slipping his fingers between her legs – once, and then again. Maggie moaned wanting much more than that.

Harry grabbed her by the hips and lifted her on top of his lap on the bed – her legs straddling over his. Wrapping her arms around his neck, her lips met with his once again, kissing him deeply – causing Harry to drop back onto the bed, taking her down with him.

They were so close – so fucking close. Maggie could feel his hardness as she lay atop him. She moved her hips against him, causing the sexiest kind of friction. The way she was moving on top of him was rubbing her in the most perfect way, she almost didn’t want to stop.

“Oh my god,” she breathed, her mouth going dry.

“The real thing is much better, love,” Harry told her, causing her to stop her movements.

“Then give it to me,” she breathed out boldly. She almost didn’t recognize her own voice.

“The sexiest words I’ve ever heard,” Harry said, lifting her up by her hips and setting her back down on the bed.  
Harry got up out of bed and went into the bathroom, leaving her all alone. _Wha—?_ Moments later, he emerged, properly suited with a condom on. Maggie couldn’t help but watch him strut back to her. He was so fucking unbelievable. She patted the bed for him to lie down next to her and he did. She slid herself back on top of him, straddling her leg over him once again.

“Are you ready?” She asked confidently.

“ _Mm-hmm_ ,” he hummed, gripping onto her hips.

Maggie slowly guided herself on top of him – sliding down, feeling the amazement as he entered her. A gasp left Harry’s mouth as she slid down all the way.

“ _Mm_ ,” Maggie moaned once he was fully inside of her.

Maggie made a point to open her eyes and look down at him before she made any movements. He was looking back at her with wonder in his eyes, masked by unadulterated lust. Her eyes stayed on his as she began moving her hips up and down him. His breathing hitched in his throat, but he kept his eyes trained on hers. The feeling of him inside of her sent shockwaves straight to her core. It was like an adrenaline shot straight to her heart. She had OD’d on Harry Styles and she didn’t know if she would find her way back out of oblivion.

Steadying herself by placing her hands on his chest, she began pumping faster, squeezing herself tightly around him.

“ _Oh, fuck_. That’s good,” Harry groaned. Maggie moaned in response, unable to vocalize the pleasure she was feeling.

“Oh, Maggie. God damn it,” Harry continued to groan as his hands gripped her hips, helping to guide her along.

When he couldn’t take it anymore, when the pleasure was too unbearable, he grabbed on tightly to her hips and flipped her onto her back – careful as to not pull out in the process. It was one of the slickest, stealthiest moves she’d ever seen in the bedroom.

Harry began pumping hard into her, sending pleasure racing through all her extremities.

“Oh, Harry. _Oh my god_ ,” Maggie gasped for air. He was godly – so in tuned.

“Maggie, I’ve wanted this for so long,” he breathed.

Her heart raced and her nerves heightened, but before she could wrap her mind around what he just said, her orgasm was ripping through her with fervor. Her body shook all over for him.

“Oh, oh. _Ohhh, Harry,_ ” she moaned loudly.

The only thing she could think of beside the pleasure engulfing her was, if she was sleeping on the other side of the wall, she would have woken up from all the noises she was making. She now completely understood Kendall’s inability to keep quiet during sex with Harry.

Harry buried his face in the nap of her neck just as his body began to clench and ride out his own orgasm. He let out a low groan as he came.

“Oh my god,” Maggie breathed once Harry had collapsed on top of her.

“ _Jesus Christ_ ,” Harry followed, still breathing heavily against her sensitive neck.

_So. Fucking. Amazing._

Harry laid on top of her until their breathing evened out and then some. They were completely comfortable in each other’s arms and Maggie was so happy for it.


	9. {Nine - If that's what you want}

“I’m hungry,” Harry said bluntly. Maggie couldn’t help but burst into a fit of giggles. How could he be think about food at a time like this? Her mind was still in a sex coma.

“What?” He smiled as he propped himself up on his elbow to look at her.

“You just… you make me laugh,” she said as her laughter subsided.

He laughed lightly before he leaned down and kissed her delicately on the lips.

“Do you want me to make you something to eat?” He questioned.

“ _Mm_. Yes, please,” she said, smiling as she watched him get out of bed.

He didn’t even bother to put any clothes on as he walked out to his kitchen. Maggie followed, but only after she put his t-shirt over her body.

“ _Mm_ , you should have stayed naked,” Harry smiled at her as he let Hemingway out of his kennel.

“And let Hemmy see me naked? _Uh-uh_ ,” Maggie gasped playfully.

“You’re right,” he smiled, kissing her on the nose before swiftly moving toward the kitchen in all his naked glory.

“You mind letting Hemingway out to go to the loo?” Harry asked from over his shoulder as he stood in front of the refrigerator.

“Sure thing, Styles,” Maggie smiled at him and walked toward the patio door.

“Come on, Hemmy-baby. Do you need to go potty?” She asked the dog as she opened up the sliding door.

“What are you in the mood for?” Harry asked curiously. _Hmm, how about round two?_

“I don’t know. I’ll have whatever you’re having. Nothing elaborate. You don’t need to impress me. You’ve already slept with me,” she told him, sending him a wry smile.

“You’re right. Peanut butter and Jelly it is,” Harry joked. Maggie gave him a playful giggle before she let Hemmy back inside.

She walked back to the kitchen and sat down at the breakfast bar, watching Harry move effortlessly around the kitchen. He was most definitely not making PB&J – he was making some sort of vegetarian omelets. It smelled wonderful – and the view of his naked well-sculpted ass wasn’t half bad either.

He grabbed two beers out of the fridge and placed them in front of the two plates of omelets he made before he came and sat down next to her. They ate in peaceful silence – Hemmy lying on his dog bed in the corner. The omelet was culinary magic. Harry was literally blessed with everything.

“Phenomenal, Harry. So good,” Maggie boasted once she was finished.

“Was I that good in bed?” He smirked playfully at her.

“Oh, God. That’s another story,” she laughed as a blush crept up her cheeks.

“You’re blushing. You’re quite adorable,” he said, kissing her cheek as he stood up and grabbed their plates, bringing them to the sink.

Maggie finished off her beer and Harry disposed of the bottles, before walking back over to her.

“Ready for bed?” He asked.

She looked at the clock – two in the morning. She hadn’t stayed up this late in ages. She debated on whether or not she should burst his bubble and tell him she should probably go home, but the hopefulness in his eyes and the fact that they both were recovering from two horribly shitty days was reason enough for her to stay.

“Yeah,” Maggie told him as she hopped down from the stool. He immediately gave her a wide smile.

“I’ve got to say goodnight to Hemmy,” she told him as she bent down, getting on her knees in front of the dog.

“Nah-night, Hemmy. I love you,” she told the dog and kissed him on his head before scratching behind his ears.

“I don’t know what’s sexier – you telling my dog you love him or the fact that your amazing bum is sticking out of my t-shirt, giving me a _great_ view,” Harry said from behind her. Maggie sat back on her feet and looked up at him with a bashful smile.

“Both – definitely both,” he insisted, smiling widely at her as he stuck out a hand to help her up.

Once she was standing, he pulled her to his chest and kissed her on the lips. Seconds later he was pulling her to the bedroom once again. 

“You can’t sleep with this on,” Harry told her as he pulled the shirt off of her body.

“Oh, I can’t, huh?” Maggie giggled playfully.

“No way,” he said as he crawled into bed. Maggie followed suit, climbing in next to him.

He pulled her to his body and she cuddled up next to him as he shut off the lights. They laid there for a little while – until they realized just how wide awake they were.

“How about round two?” Maggie asked. She didn’t have to wait for a reply before Harry was on top of her, laughing playfully.

 

When Maggie opened her eyes the next morning, the early sunlight was too much to handle. Her head was pounding and her stomach felt queasy. _Oh, god_. How much did she drink last night? Letting her eyes adjust to the sunlight, she opened them slowly. She was confused – really confused. She was in her room, but it was exactly opposite. What the hell was going on? She sat up quickly, feeling something pinning the blanket down between her legs. When she looked to see what it was, she spotted Hemmy lying there looking up sleepily at her. _Hemingway?_ Confused, Maggie looked around and noticed none of her own belongings. _Oh, god_.

Slowly she looked over at the sleeping figure next to her in bed – Harry. Her brain was turning around in spirals. _Did they—?_ They did. Even if the memories of the night before hadn’t started bombarding her mind, their naked bodies were proof enough. She didn’t know what to think or how to handle the situation. She felt extremely awkward to say the least.

Hemmy stood up and stretched enthusiastically before he crawled up to Maggie and licked her face.

“Hi, boy,” she whispered, petting his head and ears.

“You need to go potty?” She asked the dog. He wagged his little stub tail and panted his tongue.

“Come on,” she said, making a move to get up. Hemmy hopped down off the bed and she followed.

Retrieving Harry’s t-shirt and boxers from the previous night, she put them on to cover her very naked body. Hemmy already ran out to the living room and was standing in front of the patio door waiting for Maggie when she got out there.

“You gotta go potty? I’m coming, baby,” Maggie cooed at the adorable puppy.

She let him out the door and watched as he ran around like a crazy little boy before he took care of his business. She let him back in and gave him one of the treats Harry had stationed by the door. Hemmy then immediately went straight to his water dish and began lapping up the water. Maggie wasn’t sure if she could love that puppy any more than she already did.

Slowly, she walked to Harry’s bathroom to take care of her own business. As she sat down, she felt completely sore between her legs and she knew it was another dead giveaway about her night with Harry. As she was washed her hands, she looked in the mirror, noticing her ghastly appearance. _Good God_ – she looked horrifying. She grabbed a wash cloth from his cupboard and wet it to wash her face, using some of his facial soap.

When she finally left the bathroom, she debated on just running home or actually going back into Harry’s room. Slowly she found herself padding across the floor toward the bedroom. He was still asleep when she walked in, which she was grateful for. She wasn’t ready to face him – she didn’t have enough time to think everything through.

Maggie stood at the end of his bed and watched him sleep for a few moments. He was lying on his stomach and her eyes traced over the taut muscles in his back and the stubble along his jaw line. He was absolutely stunning. She could see the soft rise and fall of his chest and back as he breathed in and out.

She began thinking about the previous night – her GPA drop and Harry’s heart break. Getting drunk at the bar, dancing, and walking home. And a few flashes of skin on skin raced through her brain. She already knew it to be true, but her heart still dropped anyway. She knew in her heart she was just a rebound for him and that wasn’t what she wanted. Kendall broke his heart and he needed an outlet and unfortunately Maggie was that for him beyond what she should have been. And she was certain it blew any chance she had with him in the long run. She’d been in love with him for almost half a year and she let things go way too far in a matter of moments. She let it build up between them, only to be destroyed in one careless, drunken hook-up. 

_Why buy the cow if he got the milk for free?_

Quickly, Maggie gathered up her belongings – her bra and panties, her jeans and shoes. _Where the hell was her shirt?_ She gave Harry one more backwards glance before she left the bedroom on a mission to find the rest of her stuff. As soon as she walked into the living room, Hemmy was at her feet.

“You’ve got to stay here, buddy. I’m sorry,” she said, bending over to pet his head.

Maggie spotted her discarded sweatshirt and t-shirt at the bottom of his foyer stairs. _Good Lord_. They were eager the night before. Her purse was also left by the front door – the door still unlocked.

Hemmy followed her into the foyer as she grabbed up her things.

“Baby, you’ve got to stay here. Daddy will miss you if I take you with me,” Maggie told the little pooch. Hemmy whined as she moved toward the door.

“You’re breaking my heart right now, Win,” she told him.

“I have a feeling you’re about to break mine,” Maggie heard from the top of the stairs.

She looked up, shocked. Harry was standing there in a clean pair of black _Calvin Klein_ boxer briefs, as she was in his previous pair and his t-shirt, gripping all of her clothes in her arm.

“Harry…” She breathed.

“Where are you going?” He asked.

“Home,” she told him.

“You can’t stay? I know you don’t have school,” he pointed out.

“Harry…” She breathed, her heart feeling as if it were dying in her chest. He walked down the stairs toward her.

“Stay,” he told her once he was standing in front of her.

“I can’t,” she told him.

“Work?” He asked optimistically.

“No,” she shook her head, avoiding his gaze.

“Then, what?” He asked.

“I think it’s best if we don’t let that happen again,” she told him reluctantly.

There was a long pause between them as Harry stared at her, even though she couldn’t do the same.

“If that’s what you want,” he said finally.

It was the last thing she wanted, but she didn’t want to get her heart broken when Kendall suddenly decided she wanted him back. She wasn’t going to be played a fool. Like, ‘Maggie’ll understand, we were just having fun’. _No, no, no_. She was getting her heart the hell out of there before it even had a chance to get broken – but the feeling inside her chest already told her she was too late.

“It’s what I want,” she nodded.

“Alright,” Harry said quietly, disappointed.

“Bye, Harry,” she said, pulling open the door.

“Bye, Maggie,” he said quietly.

As Maggie made a move out the door, Hemmy trailed after her.

“Hemmy, no –”

“Hemingway, no –”

They both spoke at the same time – and then their eyes met. Maggie saw sadness in his and she was certain he saw the same in hers.

“Come on, Hemingway,” Harry said sternly, grabbing the eager puppy.

Without another word, Maggie walked out the door, shutting it behind her. Her heart squeezed tightly in her chest and she felt like she was about to break down. She needed to wait until she got into her house in fear of the possibility of Harry seeing her tears. She had to wait. Once she got to her doorstep, she began digging in her purse, but she was so flustered that she ended up dropping the purse on the stoop and its contents fell all over.

“FUCK!” She screamed, throwing the clothes she had in her arms onto the step next to her disheveled purse.

There was no way she could stop the tears now. She pulled her keys from the mess and unlocked the door. Frustrated, she just heaved everything into her entryway and ran inside, locking the door behind her.

She was a mess of tears as she showered and cleansed herself of him. She laid in bed and let the tears continue. Not only did she end her academic excellence that week, but she also lost Harry in the process of getting her mind off of her major life fuck up. Why did she let things go so far? Her stupid libido just wouldn’t leave well enough alone.

He _was_ worth it and she screwed everything up.


	10. {Ten - Friends}

In the next few days, Maggie spent a lot of time holed up in her apartment or at work. She didn’t see Harry much, on purpose – every time she knew he was outside she would avoid going out. She would even avoid going near windows in fear of Harry seeing her.

All week, she was bombarded by memories of her night with him. They would come back to her at the most inappropriate time – mostly when she was helping a customer at work or sitting in class. It wasn’t easy having such images raking her brain – not when her desire for that person was undying and absolutely intangible.

It wasn’t until Thursday that there was a knock on her door. Reluctantly she answered, only to find Harry on her doorstep. Her heart sped up and her cheeks got warm. All the images of them together were racing through her mind, making her uncomfortable in his presence.

“Hi,” he said quietly.

“Hi,” she replied almost inaudibly.

“I… uh, I need to go to London for a few days,” he said, looking at her warily, almost as if he were frightened of her reaction.

“Okay,” she said immediately, nodding her head.

“Can you…” He started. She already knew what he wanted.

“Yes, I will take care of Hemmy, Harry,” she told him. Of course she would. That’s who she was to him anyway, right? His dog sitter.

“Thank you… so much,” he said, giving her an awkward smile.

“I would never deny Hemmy,” she said, almost as an afterthought. She didn’t really even mean to say it. It just slipped out.

“Just me,” he said with a little bitterness in his tone. Maggie bit her lip and shook her head, feeling annoyed.

“Sorry,” he apologized, looking down at his feet.

“When do you leave?” She asked, going back to the subject at hand.

“Tomorrow,” he told her.

“Okay. Just bring Hemmy and his stuff by. I’ll be here,” she told him.

“Thanks a lot, Maggie May,” Harry said, giving her another awkward smile.

“No problem,” she said.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said, taking a step back from her doorway.

“Yeah,” she nodded, gripping onto the front door.

He turned to walk back to his house and Maggie shut the door, having to take a deep breath to steady herself after being in his presence again.

The next day, while waiting for Harry to bring Hemmy over, Maggie spotted Liam in the courtyard with the dog. Deciding she wasn’t avoiding everyone, she went out to talk to Liam. He smiled brightly when she walked out, like he was super happy to see her, which made her feel good for the first time in almost a week.

“You look really nice,” Liam told her as his eyes dipped down to check her out in her long white maxi dress. She blushed and smiled wildly.

She didn’t think she looked that spectacular with her hair pulled up in a bun and no makeup on – she was going for comfort more than anything. But if she could make Liam Payne look at her that way, then she had to be doing something right.

“Thanks, Liam,” she told him. He smiled widely as he threw Hemmy’s favorite tennis ball to him.

“Are you here to say goodbye to Harry?” She asked curiously.

“Yeah, among other things,” Liam told her, watching as Hemingway ran to get the ball.

“Yeah? What kind of things?” She questioned.

“I came by to pick up some paperwork that Harry was supposed to fill out – of course he’s doing it last minute, meaning right now. And I also came by to get Hemingway,” Liam explained and Maggie’s eyes flared.

“What do you mean, ‘get Hemingway’?” She asked.

“He’s staying at my flat with me and Watson for the week. Didn’t Harry tell you?” Liam asked. Watson was Liam’s own dog, whom he talked about at length the day Maggie went into the studio with Liam and Harry.

“ _No_ ,” Maggie said as anger boiled up inside her.

Without another word Maggie stalked toward Harry’s front door.

“Maggie?” Liam asked from behind her, but she kept on toward Harry’s house and flung open his door angrily.

Racing up the stairs, she found him at his breakfast bar doing the paperwork Liam mentioned – the same place he sat butt-naked eating an omelet with her not so long ago. He turned to see her coming toward him.

“Maggie,” he said, his reaction coming out as a gasp.

“Am I not good enough now, or what?” She yelled at him.

“What are you talking about? Of course you’re good enough,” he said, looking at her warily.

“Do you not trust me!?” She yelled angrily.

“I think you’re the one that doesn’t trust me!” He snapped, standing up from the stool.

“I trust you! _You_ don’t trust me!” She yelled, turning it back on him.

“You’re the one who walked out of here, not me!” Harry yelled back in his defense.

“Wait. What are you talking about?” She asked, feeling confused.

“What are _you_ talking about?” Harry asked, just as confused.

“Hemingway! Liam’s taking him now?” She yelled at him with a huff.

“Oh,” Harry said quietly.

“What the hell, Harry? Do you think I can’t handle him? I’ve taken care of him countless time since I’ve known you,” she said, still feeling angry.

“I figured you were angry with me and you didn’t care to have the burden of watching _my_ dog,” he said quietly.

“First of all, Hemmy never has been, or never will be a burden on me. I love that dog like a child. And second, I’m not angry with you. Well, right now I _am_ angry with you – but overall I’m not angry, Harry,” she told him truthfully.

“You’ve been avoiding me!” Harry snapped.

“Can you blame me!?” She asked incredulously.

“Yes!” He said, wide-eyed and full of fire.

“Harry, we… we can’t let that happen again. We’re… friends,” she sighed, letting the anger drain out of her.

“Okay, _friend_. It won’t happen again!” He said angrily, emphasizing ‘friend’ in a sarcastic way.

“Harry, don’t be like that,” she said sadly.

“How do you want me to be? We had a great night – after all we went through, we had a great night. And then you… you were just going to leave without saying a word,” he pointed out, making her feel bad in an instant.

“It’s not like I was skipping town. I was going next door!” She protested.

“Yeah, it would have felt the same either way. It _does_ feel the same. You won’t talk to me, you avoid me. We’re friends. I want my friend back,” Harry explained.

“Fine. I’m here. Give me the dog,” she said childishly, crossing her arms tightly over her chest. Harry rolled his eyes at her and sighed.

“Why are you being like this?” He asked quietly.

“I don’t know,” she said, looking down at her feet. She didn’t know how to act around him. Everything was different.

“Well, please stop,” he told her. Maggie nodded her head and let out a sigh. She knew she was being petty and he didn’t deserve it.

“Let’s… let’s hang out when you get home from London. Just you and me and Hemmy. No alcohol,” she offered, trying to make peace.

“I’d like that,” Harry said, finally smiling at her.

“Me too,” she said as the side of her mouth quirked up.

“Good,” he said with a nod.

“Can I have Hemmy?” She asked again, quirking her eyebrow at him.

“I can talk to Liam,” Harry said finally.

“She can take him,” Liam said from the foyer, startling the both of them.

“How long have you been there?” Harry asked his mate, looking over the railing at him.

“Long enough to hear that Maggie wants to take Hemingway,” Liam said, smiling up at the two of them as Hemmy ran up the stairs.

“Is that okay?” Harry asked Liam.

“Perfectly fine. I’ll get his stuff out of my car,” Liam said and headed for the door.

“I can’t believe you were going to let Liam take my baby,” Maggie said, grabbing Hemmy in her arms.

“Your baby?” Harry asked, quirking his eyebrow at him.

“Yes, and I’m about to file for joint custody,” she joked.

“Oh, really?” Harry smirked.

“You know he loves me more,” she said with a wide smile as Hemmy licked her face.

“I think he does,” Harry laughed.

Liam brought all of Hemmy’s belongings to Maggie’s house as Harry loaded his luggage into Liam’s car.

“So, I was wondering…” Liam said, looking bashful as he stood in Maggie’s foyer.

“What were you wondering, Liam?” She asked, smiling brightly at him.

“I was wondering if maybe I could get your phone number – to maybe call you sometime,” Liam said, catching her off guard. A wide smile came across her face and he in turn smiled widely too.

“I’d like that,” she told him.

Right when they were done exchanging numbers, Harry showed up in her doorway, ready to leave for the airport.

“Ready to go?” Harry asked Liam.

“Yeah. Coming,” Liam said, clearing his throat. He gave Maggie another smile before he turned toward the door.

“I’ll see you later, Maggie,” Liam said as he bypassed Harry and walked out the door.

“Bye,” Maggie said, still smiling.

“I’m gonna say goodbye to Hemingway,” Harry called after Liam, walking up the stairs after Maggie.

“What was that? Was Liam coming on to you?” Harry asked her as they reached the top of the stairs.

“What? No. He was giving me Hemmy’s stuff,” Maggie said and almost laughed in his face. What was it to him anyway?

“Okay, good,” Harry said, scanning the room for his dog.

“And what if he was?” She asked curiously. She didn’t like the fact that Harry was acting like he had some sort of dibs on her.

“I just think it would be awkward,” he told her.

“It wouldn’t be _that_ awkward,” she argued.

“ _Psssh_ ,” Harry scoffed as he knelt down to Hemingway’s level.

“You sound jealous,” Maggie pointed out.

“Whatever, Maggie. I don’t want to fight with you. I’m leaving. Can we just… can we just be civil?” He asked, standing up with Hemingway in his arms.

“Yeah,” she agreed, dropping the subject for the time being.

“Take care of the little bugger,” Harry said, scratching the top of Hemmy’s head.

“I always do,” she told him.

Harry gave Hemingway one more ruffle on his head and then put him down on the floor before walking up to Maggie and wrapping her in a hug. Her heart sped up and she knew she missed being around him more than she thought. He held on tightly and kissed her on the top of the head before letting go. She had to take a deep breath in order to not feel faint.

“I’ll see you when I get back,” Harry told her in parting.

“Yeah. Have fun,” she said, her voice sounding breathless.

 

 

_“If I could fly, I’d be coming right back home to you. I think I might give up everything, just ask me to. Pay attention, I hope that you listen, cause I let my guard down. Right now I’m completely defenseless. For your eyes only, I show you my heart. For when you’re lonely and forget who you are. I’m missing half of me when we’re apart. Now you know me, for your eyes only. For your eyes only,”_ Harry sang into the microphone at the London recording studio he was at with his friend and musical mentor, Julian Bunetta.

“That sounded great. Come back in here. We’ll play it back,” Julian said from his spot at the sound board.

Harry was so excited that he got to write and record with Julian again. He’d spent countless hours on the road, writing and recording with him back in his _One Direction_ days. Julian was truly a master and Harry always looked up to him.

Once Harry came back into the room, Julian played the song back for him. He was more than happy with the way it sounded. Especially since he’d just written the song the night before.

“That sounds good,” Harry said with a nod, trying to sound modest.

“So…” Julian said, quirking an eyebrow at him.

“So? What?” Harry asked, eyeing him back.

“Who is it you’re singing to?” Julian asked curiously.

Harry chuckled and blushed immediately, not really sure he wanted to get into it.

“Who is she? This isn’t about Kendall, is it?” Julian asked.

“No. _God_ , no,” Harry said immediately. As the days passed since their break-up, Harry was most definitely certain that being with Kendall for so long was a mistake. They weren’t right for each other.

“So, who then?” Julian asked.

“You’re like a gossiping girl right now,” Harry said, taking a sip out of his bottle of water.

“Why? Cause I want to know what’s going on with my friend?” Julian chuckled and Harry eyed him.

“Who is she?” Julian asked again, trudging on with the conversation.

“Her name is Maggie,” Harry told him finally, still feeling the heat in his face.

“And who is Maggie?” Julian pried.

“My neighbor in Los Angeles,” Harry said, taking another drink of water.

“How cliché is that? The girl next door, Harry? Really?” Julian laughed blithely.

“Shut it. She’s… she’s amazing,” Harry said as visions of Maggie’s beauty danced through his mind.

“Okay, so why hasn’t anyone ever heard of this Maggie girl?” Julian questioned.

“Liam and Louis met her,” Harry told him.

“So what is Maggie like and how long have you been pining for her?” Julian chuckled, nudging Harry’s arm.

“She smart. _Really_ brilliant, actually. She’s had a 4.0 gpa for the past four years in college,” Harry told him.

“Damn,” Julian laughed.

“I know. She’s crazy smart. And she loves Hemingway – he’s actually staying at her house right now,” Harry explained.

“Oh, _she’s_ the dog sitter,” Julian chuckled.

“Yeah. She always watches Hemingway for me whenever I go out of town,” Harry nodded.

“So how long have you been pining for her?” Julian asked again with a sly smirk.

“I don’t know. For a while. We kind of… hooked up recently,” Harry said, blushing even more.

“When? Didn’t you and Kendall _just_ break up?” Julian asked incredulously.

“It was the night Kendall broke up with me actually,” Harry said, looking away from him because he kind of felt like a twat.

“ _Jesus_. You don’t waste any time, do you?” Julian asked with a laugh.

“I don’t know… we just… we got really drunk together and it just happened,” Harry told him.

“I just _happened?_ Sex isn’t accidental,” Julian said with a ‘bullshit’ face in Harry’s direction.

“Okay, I _wanted_ it to happen. But afterward she pretty much told me it wasn’t ever going to happen again. So that’s where we’re at right now,” Harry said awkwardly.

“Ouch,” Julian hissed.

“Yeah, it sucks,” Harry said, feeling down about it.

“So, then she doesn’t know who you are?” Julian joked, sending Harry a sneaky smile.

“She doesn’t care,” Harry sighed.

“Or maybe she _does_ care and she’s just as insecure as you are,” Julian pointed out.

“She’s not insecure,” Harry stated matter-of-factly.

“I would have said the same about you, but I know you too well after all these years. On the outside you’re as confident and cocky as ever…” Julian started to explain.

“Hey, I’m not cocky!” Harry protested. Julian cocked an eyebrow, but kept on talking.

“…but on the inside, you’re a mushy little marshmallow,” Julian chuckled.

“I’m not a marshmallow!” Harry protested again.

“Yeah. Whatever, man. I’m just saying, maybe you and Maggie are one in the same,” Julian told him.

“Do you really think so?” Harry asked, really trying to think hard about all his interactions with Maggie.

Was she really just a shy girl and he just never noticed it? She always seemed so confident with him. Julian really had him thinking and it only made him want to get back to LA that much sooner.

 

 

Harry came back after five days in London and Liam brought him home from the airport. Maggie and Hemmy were incredibly excited to see Harry – and Maggie was also excited to see Liam. He text Maggie the day after Harry left and they started texting each other quite a bit over the week. She liked that he could make her laugh and he was just _so_ sweet. She wasn’t sure of her feelings for Liam, but she wanted to find out if they were compatible at more than just a texting relationship. She wasn’t going to count him out just because she had these stupid unrequited feelings for Harry.

Maggie let Hemmy out the door when she saw Liam and Harry pull up and he immediately bolted for the gate.

“Boys!” Maggie called out, smiling widely as they got out of the car. They both were wearing huge grins when they saw her. Maggie let Liam through the gate as Harry got his luggage from the trunk.

“Hey, you,” Liam whispered to her as he squeezed her hand, unnoticed by Harry.

“Hey, back to you,” she greeted him with a smile just for him.

“How’ve you been?” He asked.

“Same old, same old,” she said with a smirk.

“ _Mm-hmm_ ,” Liam hummed as he watched her adoringly. It was an unnerving feeling because she didn’t know how to react to that kind of look.

“Maggie May!” Harry said, coming through the gate.

“I think there is a little boy you need to say hi to before you do anything else,” Maggie said playfully, pointing to Hemingway at his feet.

“Oh, Hemingway! I missed you, little bugger,” Harry said, bending down and ruffling up Hemmy’s fur. He let Hemingway attack him with kisses before he put the dog down and stood up in front of Maggie again.

“Maggie…” Harry smiled and wrapped his arms around her.

“Hi, Harry,” she said into the collar of his jacket.

“Has Hemingway been good for you?” He asked, pulling her away to look into her eyes.

“Yeah, but he missed you. I’m starting to re-evaluate where his love lies,” she joked.

“Hemingway’s never lived by the rule ‘love the one your with’. He’s always done his own thing,” Harry chuckled.

“That must be it,” she laughed blithely.

The three of them and Hemingway hung out together at Harry’s for a little while. They ordered Chinese food, enjoying each other’s company. Harry talked about London and all the projects he had on the horizon in regards to his solo career. It was fun and interesting for Maggie to be in-the-know about things like that.

Throughout the evening she was almost certain Harry started catching on to the fact that she and Liam knew each other a little better than just two acquaintances that met in passing. He kept looking at them skeptically when they’d bring up something they’d already talked about with each other.

Maggie decided to leave around eleven and Liam said he was going to head out too – which caused Harry to look at them skeptically again. But he never said a thing. Maggie left moments before Liam and as she was opening her door, he walked over to her.

“Maggie…” He said quietly.

“Oh, hey. I thought you were leaving,” she said, pointing back to the parking lot.

“I was. I am. I just want to ask you something,” Liam said with a shy smile.

“Alright,” she said, closing her door, giving him her full attention.

“I was wondering if maybe you’d want to go out with me this weekend. Like on a date?” He asked. Maggie immediately smiled and blushed as she bit her lip. _A date with the gorgeous Liam Payne?_

“I’d like that,” she said, feeling quite bashful.

“Great,” Liam said, looking proud and happy that he got the answer he was looking for.

“I’ll call you with the details,” he told her.

“Alright,” she nodded, biting at her lip again.

“Goodnight, Maggie,” Liam said, pulling her into a quick hug.

“’Night, Liam,” she said, giving him a little wave before she walked into the house.

_Smitten_. She was definitely smitten.


	11. {Eleven - The Date}

**Late March 2018**

“So… I just wanted to run something past you,” Liam said once he got Harry on the phone that Saturday.

“What?” Harry asked impatiently. He was in a hurry to get out the door. He was already late getting to the studio.

“Well, uh…” Liam stammered, taking his sweet time spitting it out.

“Payno, seriously – I don’t have a lot of time,” Harry said, locking up his apartment door.

“Well, I uh… I kind of asked Maggie out on a date,” Liam told him.

“You _what!?”_ Harry snapped, stopping in his tracks on the sidewalk.

“I…” Liam started, but stopped himself.

“What the _fuck_ , Liam!?” Harry said incredulously.

“What? I mean, she said yes,” Liam told him.

“She said _yes!?”_ Harry asked, running his free hand through his hair.

_What the hell?_ He wasn’t good enough for her, but Liam was?

“Uh, we’re going out tonight,” Liam said hesitantly.

“So, what were you planning on _‘running by’_ me?” Harry asked with unfaltering sarcasm.

“I don’t know. I just… I like her, Harry,” Liam said. Harry was struck speechless. Of course he liked her – she was _perfect_.

“Harry?” Liam asked.

“What?” Harry grumbled.

“Are you okay with this?” Liam asked carefully. _No!_

“If I said I wasn’t would you break off the date?” Harry shot at him.

“Uh, probably not,” Liam said quietly after a few silent seconds.

“Then what is the point of this whole bloody conversation?” Harry practically yelled into the receiver.

“I-I don’t know. I guess I just wanted to give you a heads up,” Liam stammered.

“You know we slept together, right?” Harry shot at him, trying everything to derail their date.

“Uh, no. I didn’t,” Liam said awkwardly.

“Well, we did,” Harry said, immediately feeling like a prat for blurting it out like that.

“Okay…” Liam said quietly.

“So?” Harry asked.

“So, what?” Liam countered.

“Never mind,” Harry scoffed.

“Listen, Harry…” Liam began.

“Have _fun_. I’ve gotta go,” Harry said sarcastically and immediately hung up on him.

What a day ruiner. What a _life_ ruiner. _Fucking Payno_.

Harry couldn’t concentrate at all in the studio. The producer he was working with was getting so fed up with him. Finally Harry just told him his heart wasn’t into it and he left to go home.

When Harry walked up the sidewalk to his flat, he noticed Maggie’s lights in her house were still on, which most likely meant she was still home. Maybe he could convince her to break off the date with Liam. She answered her door wearing a way-too-sexy-for-Liam-Payne tight black dress. Harry wanted to die knowing Liam was going to get to escort her around while she wore something that mouth-watering.

“Liam told me about your date,” Harry said immediately, getting straight to the point.

“We’re just friends,” Maggie countered right away.

“What? Like we’re _just_ friends?” Harry shot back at her.

“We _are_ just friends,” she said, avoiding his eyes.

“Look, Maggie… I don’t want to say the wrong thing here and have you angry with me again… but I don’t like this. I don’t like this one bit,” Harry told her. Her eyes met with his again, narrowing dangerously.

“I’m sorry, Harry. Liam and I have become friends and he asked me out to dinner,” she said and he could hear the attitude in her voice.

“What if I asked you not to go?” Harry asked her boldly.

“Harry, you can’t do that,” she said, shaking her head.

“That’s one of my best mates, Maggie!” Harry protested.

“If I didn’t know any better, I would think you were jealous right now,” she said as her eyes narrowed again.

“He’s my best mate,” he said again.

“Harry, I don’t know how I feel about him, but I can promise you nothing is going to happen between me and Liam tonight,” Maggie told him firmly.

She was assuring him nothing was going to go down with her and Liam, but Harry couldn’t accept the fact that she was going on a date with him at all. He _was_ jealous. He was _so_ fucking jealous.

“Then why go?” Harry asked.

“I’m not going to say it again, Harry. Please. I need to get ready. Liam is taking me out to dinner and he will bring me home. Nothing else will happen,” she explained.

“Fine,” Harry said, not liking it – but deciding that fighting with her was just going to make her get angry with him, which would hinder his own chances of ever getting a date with her.

“Yes, it will be fine,” she told him.

Harry couldn’t do anything but stare at her. He was hoping she could see his final plea in his eyes. But she couldn’t – _story of his life_.

“Goodnight, Harry,” Maggie said finally as she started closing her door on him.

He took a deep breath and let it out as she closed the door completely, leaving him standing on her front stoop alone.

 

Liam picked Maggie up on time and took her to a private restaurant where it was just the two of them – no paparazzi, thank god. Their conversation was light and flirty – but as much as she wanted to move on from Harry, she knew that doing so with his friend was out of the question. Liam was great and everything – he was the whole package even. Handsome and polite. He made it a point to listen contently to everything she said and he paid for dinner. Maggie was certain he would make a woman very happy someday, but it wasn’t going to be her.

“Liam, I have to tell you…” She started.

“What is it?” He asked as he took a sip from his water.

“Uh, Harry and I… we’ve… we, uh…” She stammered, trying to find the words. Why was it so hard to say?

“We’ve slept together,” she said finally, her gaze falling down to her hands as if it were some dirty secret. Liam was silent, causing her to look up at him. He just nodded his head lightly and she couldn’t gage his reaction.

“It was only one time and I told him we couldn’t do it again,” she said, feeling as if she was confessing to a boyfriend whom she cheated on.

“I know,” Liam said quietly.

“You know? Harry told you?” She choked out, feeling incredibly hurt. _What a dick_.

“He had a few choice words for me when he found out I asked you out,” Liam explained.

“Oh,” she said, her cheeks blushing rapidly.

“What made you bring up Harry?” Liam asked.

“I just… I didn’t want you to… I don’t know. We’re friends. I thought you should know I’ve had _relations_ with your best friend,” she told him and he nodded.

Thankfully, she brought up her and Harry’s one night stand at the end of dinner, because it got a little awkward after that. Though it was probably mostly on her part, because she started feeling and acting awkward. She couldn’t get Harry out of her head. He was like a parasite infesting every part of her brain.

Liam drove Maggie back to her house and she immediately noticed Harry’s face in his front window. _Oh, good Lord_. Thankfully, he didn’t sit there watching them as Liam walked her to her door.

“Liam, I had a lot of fun,” Maggie told him truthfully. He was fun – he just wasn’t who she truly wanted.

“I did too, Maggie. You’re great to be around. I’m glad we’re friends,” Liam said, smiling at her.

“Me too,” she told him.

Seconds later, he moved in to kiss her delicately on the lips. It didn’t linger – it wasn’t passionate. It was just more of a goodnight kiss.

“I thought nothing was going to happen, Maggie,” Harry scowled from behind Liam.

“Harry!” Maggie yelped, pulling away from Liam.

“This is ridiculous. Thanks _a lot_ , Liam!” Harry snapped and stormed back into his house.

“What the hell?” Maggie scoffed, feeling annoyed because of Harry’s childish behavior.

“I was wondering if his feelings for you would finally come out if I took you on a date,” Liam said, smirking slyly.

“What?” Maggie asked, feeling incredibly stunned.

“Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed,” Liam said, giving her a questioning look.

“Noticed what?” She asked, feeling confused.

“That Harry is in love with you,” Liam replied casually, as if his words weren’t as powerful as they really were.

Maggie was stunned, shocked, baffled. Her brain was no longer producing intelligent thoughts. It was just an array of ‘umm’, ‘uhh’, ‘huh’. Liam chuckled as he watched her try to grasp onto the notion.

“From the look on your face, I can see that it’s mutual,” he smiled amusingly at her.

“What? No,” she said quickly and Liam rolled his eyes.

“You two,” he sighed, shaking his head and smiling jovially. Maggie stood there frozen. Was she _that_ obvious?

“It was fun, Maggie. I would ask for another date, but I think Harry would proper murder me if I do. So I’ll just back off,” Liam told her and his words barely registered. Maggie was still reeling from Liam’s revelation. _Harry was in love with her?_

“Goodnight,” Liam said and kissed her on the cheek.

“’Night,” she breathed quietly as Liam made his way to Harry’s front door.

_What just happened?_ She honestly wasn’t sure. She went into her house in a daze, walking up the stairs to her bedroom. She changed out of her dress and into a pair of shorts and a tank top, still thinking about Harry – trying to relive every single moment she spent with him over the past few months. She had no clue.

 

Harry stormed up the staircase in his flat, ready to punch something. He really wanted to punch Liam’s face in, but he was too busy lip-locking with _his_ girl. Harry paced back and forth across his bedroom floor trying to get the anger to settle, but it wasn’t working. He just kept replaying that stupid kiss in his mind and it was driving him mad.

Moments later, he heard his front door open.

“Harry?” Liam called out.

Harry stormed down the hallway toward the foyer as Liam started ascending the stairs to find him.

“Fuck you!” Harry yelled at him and Liam just laughed.

“I will punch you in the face, Payno,” Harry said, clenching his fists.

“Calm down, mate,” Liam said with a smile on his face.

“No! Fuck you, you fucking wanker,” Harry snapped as he began pacing his living room.

“If I knew how you felt about her…” Liam began to say.

“Then what?” Harry yelled, glaring at him.

“Then I wouldn’t have asked her out,” Liam told him.

“You should have gotten the idea from our chat today,” Harry countered.

“How long have you fancied her, Harry?” Liam asked, but Harry fell silent.

“What? Are you going to deny it?” Liam questioned.

“A while, alright?” Harry grumbled.

“How long is a while?” Liam asked.

“Since I met her,” Harry told him reluctantly.

“Why the hell don’t you tell her how you feel then?” Liam asked incredulously. Harry glared at him for a moment.

“Seriously… what do you have to lose? Next time it’s going to be some other bloke taking her out – and then what? Are you going to just sit at home and cry?” Liam asked.

“Shut it,” Harry shot at him with a narrowed glare.

“She’s not going to wait around forever for you to get your head out of your arse,” Liam told him.

“Wait around for me?” Harry asked curiously.

“I’ve got to go, mate,” Liam said, ignoring his question as he headed for the stairs.

“What do you mean?” Harry asked.

“Think about it, Harry. There’s a reason she hasn’t dated,” Liam said cryptically.

“What the hell does that mean?” Harry asked.

“If you can’t figure it out, then you’re pretty thick, mate,” Liam chuckled as he reached for the door handle.

“See ya later,” Liam said and went out the door.

Harry stood there baffled for a good few minutes, trying to figure out what Liam’s cryptic words meant.

 

Maggie’s mind was still reeling as she found herself walking out her front door toward Harry’s house. There really was only one way to find out the truth.

She heard the courtyard gate shut before Liam’s _Mercedes_ started up and he drove out of the parking lot. She knocked quietly on Harry’s door and waited for him to answer. Her heart raced with the thought of seeing him. What was she even going to say? How was she going to handle this? She contemplated running back to her house before he had a chance to catch her there, but it was too late. Harry opened the door finding her standing there in front of him.

“Hi…” He said, eyeing her warily. Maggie cleared her throat and started to speak without really having a plan set in her mind of what she would say.

“We’re friends. Right, Harry?” She asked, stepping toward him into his entryway. He moved back as she moved in deeper.

“Yeah, we’re friends, Maggie,” Harry said, giving her a concerned look.

“Are we really? We’re friends?” She asked again, staring at him as he shut the door behind them.

“Yes, Maggie. What is going on?” Harry asked, furrowing his brows in question.

“I just want to get down to the bottom of this,” she said as she eyed him.

“Of what? Have you gone mad, Maggie?” Harry questioned, giving her a funny look.

“That we’re friends…” She said, starting to sound a little crazy.

“Yes! Jesus, Maggie! We’re friends!” Harry grumbled.

“So that’s why you didn’t want me to go on a date with Liam? Cause we’re friends?” She questioned, narrowing her eyes at him.

“Yes!” He bellowed.

“Nothing else?” She questioned again.

“Nothing else,” he said, sounding exasperated. But she wanted to get to the bottom of it once and for all. She didn’t want to play games anymore.

“Nothing at all?” She asked.

“No!” He yelped and chuckled, even though she sort of knew she was freaking him out a little.

“So there’s nothing else between us?” She asked, quirking a brow at him.

“Maggie…” Harry sighed, his expression softening.

“No, Harry. I want to know… is there something else?” She asked.

“I don’t know, is there?” He replied, looking at her expectantly.

Maggie stared at him, her eyes narrowing again. She was trying to read him, but he wasn’t giving her anything. She knew she must have looked like a lunatic, but it didn’t matter to her in the moment. Maggie saw Hemmy out of the corner of her eye standing at the top of the steps and she quickly turned her full attention to him for a split second. And that’s all it took. By the time her eyes skated back to Harry, he was crashing his lips against hers – taking her breath away quite literally.

And her brain was back to mush.


	12. {Twelve - Perfect}

Maggie’s whole body was about to explode. Harry’s lips were on hers, his tongue tangled with her own, and his hands cradled her face in them. She felt light-headed.

“Harry, Harry, Harry…” She said, pulling away from him.

“Yeah?” Harry said, breathing heavily.

“What… what does this mean?” She questioned. As much as she liked kissing him, she wanted some real answers.

“Maggie May…” Harry breathed as a smile turned up his lips.

“Harry, please…” Maggie insisted.

“You know there’s more between us than just a friendship,” Harry told her.

“Do I?” She asked as she felt some very strong emotions build up inside of her. She was going to cry and she knew it.

“Every time I kiss you, your body goes weak,” he pointed out, making her stomach turn violently.

She pulled away from him, feeling almost embarrassed. It wasn’t what she wanted to hear. She didn’t need him telling her how _she_ was feeling. She knew how she felt. She’d been in love with him for months.

“That doesn’t tell me _anything_ ,” she shot at him.

“What do you mean?” Harry asked, furrowing his brow.

“Just forget it,” she scoffed, turning to leave. Disappointment crept up inside of her as the tears pricked at her eyes. She had her answer and it wasn’t what she wanted at all.

“Maggie!” Harry shouted.

“What?” She asked, turning to face him again, wiping at her eyes quickly. Her nerves were frayed and she just wanted to be alone.

“I think you’re beautiful,” Harry breathed, stepping closer to her.

“Don’t tell me I’m beautiful, Harry,” she said, shaking her head as tears streaked down her cheeks.

“Don’t cry, Maggie. Let me finish,” Harry said, grabbing her arm just as she was about to turn away again.

“You’re beautiful, and you take care of me and _Hemmy_ …” Harry continued using her nickname for his dog for the first time… ever. It made her smile a little.

“You keep me on my toes and honestly I’ve liked you since I met you,” Harry told her.

“You’ve liked me?” She asked.

“I’m attracted to you and I have feelings for you,” Harry corrected.

“You… you…” She stammered, unable to find the right words. After a beat, her eyes narrowed as she looked at him skeptically.

“Maggie May, I can see from the look on your face that you don’t believe me,” Harry said with a light laugh.

“Can you blame me? You’re… you’re fucking _Harry Styles_ ,” she said in disbelief.

“Well, technically _you’re_ fucking Harry Styles, not me,” Harry said, smirking playfully. Maggie glared at him skeptically.

“You know what I mean, Harry,” she said, trying her best to shrug off his overtly flirtatious comment.

“Since when has me being famous ever mattered to you, Maggie? That’s one of the many things I like about you,” Harry explained.

“But… I’m _me_ and you’re _you_ ,” she said, feeling her heart swelling in her chest.

“Yes, I am me and you are you. Harry and Maggie. If anything, I should be intimidated by you. I _am_ intimidated by you. You’re perfect,” Harry told her.

“Harry, I’m not perfect,” she said, shaking her head in disagreement. Her heart was pounding hard in her chest and her whole body was heating up, making her uncomfortable. Her eyes burned with tears and she kind of felt sick to her stomach.

“To me you are,” Harry told her.

She looked up at him with all the wonder in the world. _Was he serious?_ The look in his eyes told her he was. Harry Styles just confessed he liked her and she didn’t know what to do. She knew what she wanted to do, but wasn’t sure it was appropriate.

“Maggie…” Harry whispered.

“Hmm?” She hummed, her brain a chaotic mess.

“Do you need me to explain more? Do you believe me? I mean, quite seriously, when I found out you were going out with Liam, I was a proper mess,” Harry went on.

“You were?” She asked, her mouth going dry with his confession.

“I’m surprised you didn’t notice. I mean, you were completely right when you accused me of being jealous, but _hell_ —” He continued to explain, but she’d heard enough.

She took a quick step forward, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his. His arms wrapped around her immediately as they opened their mouths to one another. She really, _really_ liked kissing him. But it was over almost as quickly as it began. Harry pulled away, looking at her.

“What about you?” He asked, giving her a curious look.

“What?” She asked, bringing her fingers up to her puffy lips.

“How do _you_ feel about me?” He asked with a quirk of his eyebrow.

“Harry, I’ve…” She breathed, feeling self-conscious about the amount of time she’d spent swooning over him.

“Be honest,” he told her firmly.

“From the moment I met you, you… I don’t know… you’ve had me,” she confessed as her cheeks blushed rapidly. A large smile played across his face making her insides tighten.

“I knew there was something there, Maggie May,” he said with a satisfied smile.

“You did?” She asked, furrowing her brow in question.

“Yeah. I just couldn’t do anything about it because I was with Kendall,” Harry told her. She closed her eyes and bit her lip. _All this time._

“I’m quite glad we built something though, Maggie. I’m glad we got to know each other. Because I know you’re kind and generous and you love Hemingway unconditionally. And I know your feelings for me go beyond who I am to everyone else,” he told her.

“I’ve never looked at you like a celebrity,” she admitted honestly.

“I know that. And my feelings for you go beyond your brains and your _gorgeous_ looks. I enjoy everything about you – even your stubborn streak,” Harry said, smiling playfully.

“Stubborn? _You’re_ stubborn, Styles,” she shot at him.

“Oh, there it is,” he chuckled and she lightly smacked his arm.

“And your violent side that I have yet to see until now,” he laughed amusingly.

“Harry…” She whined.

“ _Maggie_ ,” Harry mimicked her, wrapping his arms around her, pulling her flush against his body.

“So, we like each other, more than just friends,” Harry breathed in her ear causing goosebumps to erupt all over her body.

“Yeah,” she agreed, tightening her grasp on him.

“I know someone who will be happy to hear that,” Harry said with a little laugh.

“Who?” She asked, pulling back enough to look at him curiously.

“Hemingway,” Harry said with a smirk, looking over at his dog, who was now lying at the top of the steps watching them. Hemmy’s head popped up when he heard his name.

“Oh, my baby!” Maggie exclaimed, pushing out of Harry’s arms to crawling up the stairs toward Hemmy. Hemingway stood up, immediately wagging his tail and panting his tongue.

“Oh my god. I love you so much, Hemmy,” Maggie said in playful baby-talk as she wrapped her arms around him.

Hemmy wiggled his body to get down and tried to lick her at the same time – his natural instinct to be on all fours and his natural instinct to give love, were duking it out. Maggie let Hemmy down so he wouldn’t be uncomfortable, but still let him lick her hand.

“He loves you, too,” Harry said as he crawled up the steps next to her, petting Hemmy on the head.

“I know,” Maggie said, making kissing noises at Hemingway.

“So, you were certain of Hemingway’s feeling for you, but not about mine?” Harry asked, smirking at her.

“Hemmy shows me his feelings,” she countered immediately.

“I kissed you!” He argued.

“When?” She scoffed.

“Valentine’s Day,” he said, heightening his eyebrows at her.

“That was a pity kiss and besides, you were dating Kendall!” She protested.

“How about the night after the bar?” He asked.

“You were drunk and horny,” she countered.

“I may have been drunk and horny, but it didn’t mean I didn’t like you,” he argued. His words instantly made her blush.

“Plus, I cooked for you… _naked_ ,” he said, making a fair point.

“You did,” she said, smiling as she thought back on the spectacular view she had that night.

“I asked you to stay the night _and_ to stay that morning, but you still left,” he said, hanging his head sadly.

“I wanted to stay, Harry. _Oh, God_. I wanted to stay. But I didn’t want to get hurt,” she confessed.

“Why would you think I’d hurt you?” He asked, looking as if _he_ was hurt.

“I don’t know. I didn’t know if you liked me and I didn’t want to press my luck. I mean, you can have any girl. Kendall is a stick-thin, gorgeous, rich and famous model for god’s sake! How can I compete with that?” Maggie confessed.

“Oh, Maggie. None of that matters, I swear,” Harry said, looking sad.

He was so perfect in that moment – so pure and loving. And she wanted, more than anything, to make him feel better. Her lips crashed into his quickly. She wanted to feel the love radiating off of him and she wanted him to feel hers as well.

And as they laid on the steps making out, Hemmy stood at the top of them and started barking at them. They both looked up at the dog, laughing.

“He probably thinks we’re attacking each other,” Harry laughed.

“Oh, buddy. We’re okay,” Maggie told Hemingway as she slid off of Harry. He calmed down as Harry pet his head lovingly.

“No more attacking me with kisses in front of the child, Maggie,” Harry scolded her playfully.

“I can think of somewhere where I’d like to attack you with kisses,” she said and bolted up the stairs to Harry’s bedroom.

“Maggie May, you naughty girl!” Harry called after her.

When he came through the threshold of his bedroom, he found her kneeling on his bed waiting for him.

“Come here,” she commanded, wiggling her finger in a come-hither motion.

“ _Mm_ ,” Harry hummed as he walked toward her, his eyes already glazing over with lust.

Their mouths met again in a sensual rhythm, his hands working up the tank top at her hips. She lifted her arms so he could pull her shirt off and he did, leaving her topless. His hands roamed her body as his mouth kissed down her jaw and then her neck.

“I would have died if Liam was in this role tonight,” Harry breathed against her skin.

“It was never Liam. It would never be Liam,” she told him honestly.

“Thank God,” Harry sighed, over powering her, pressing her onto her back as he crawled up her body.

She couldn’t help but think about how perfect the moment was; how perfect it felt to have Harry on top of her. _Perfect, perfect, perfect._

She knew the last six months of telling herself that he wasn’t worth it was all in vain, because _God damn it_ , Harry Styles was worth the world.


	13. {Thirteen - Happy}

Maggie lay in Harry’s naked arms, completely sated and warm. It was the third time she found herself in that position and she was beginning to think she was getting the hang of it. She knew if it were to end, she would most definitely miss it greatly. But lying next to him, she knew she would not be going back to her sexual drought anytime soon. He was the definition of a ‘sex god’, she’d swear on it.

“You know you’re not allowed to leave, right?” Harry told her as he squeezed her in his arms.

“Ever?” She giggled.

“Ever,” he said, chuckling in response.

She knew it was his way of clearing the air between them about the last time. He wasn’t going to let her just walk out on him like she did before. And she wouldn’t. Not this time.

“I didn’t lock my apartment. All my lights are still on,” she told him as she popped her head up to look at him.

“Why didn’t you lock it?” He asked.

“Uh, because I was coming over here to yell at you and then I was going to go back home and cry myself to sleep,” she told him – which probably would have been exactly how her night would have gone if Harry didn’t reciprocate her feelings.

“You would have cried?” He asked.

“I’ve cried over you before,” she admitted, cringing immediately, wishing she hadn’t said it.

“What?” He asked, sitting up, looking overly concerned.

“Uh, just once,” she said, blushing like crazy. She was so incredibly embarrassed already. She sat up next to him, because she knew her confession was going to bring on questions.

“When? Why?” He asked concerned.

“It was stupid. _So_ stupid,” she said, trying to wave it off.

“No, I want to know,” he said, grabbing her hand in his, intertwining their fingers. She appreciated the sweet gesture.

“God…” Maggie breathed, wishing she never brought up the stupid subject.

“Maggie, tell me,” Harry said firmly, stroking the back of her hand with his thumb.

“It was after the first time I met Kendall and she was really rude to me. I went home that night and cried because it wasn’t fair that someone like her got someone as amazing as you. And I know it was pathetic, but I was really emotional about it,” she explained, trying to hide her embarrassed face with her hand.

“She was rude to you?” He asked, gently pulling her hand away from her face and lacing their fingers together with both hands.

“Yeah. But seriously, I really can’t blame her. I’d be upset if you lived next to a single girl – even though I don’t compare to Kendall in any way, shape or form,” Maggie said, looking away from him.

“Maggie, I don’t want to hear you judging yourself anymore. You are absolutely beautiful. And I am so sorry that Kendall was rude to you,” Harry said, kissing the back of her hand.

“Water under the bridge,” she said, shrugging her shoulders.

“You and I are here and she’s not,” Harry said with a smile. Maggie’s whole face lit up with his words as he leaned over, kissing her gently before he pulled back again.

“You taste good,” he smiled and she blushed again. His compliments were going to take some getting used to – but then again, she didn’t want to get used to them. She wanted to feel this happy every time.

“I should lock up my house,” she told him finally.

“Okay. I should let Hemingway out,” he nodded.

The two of them got out of bed and dressed. Maggie replaced her tank top and shorts on her body and Harry put on a pair of navy blue pajama pants and a gray zip-up hoodie. They walked out to the living room together, hand-in-hand. Maggie couldn’t remember ever being so happy.

“Do you need to go out?” Harry asked Hemmy and he wagged his tail diligently.

“Come on,” Harry said as the three of them made their way down the front stairs.

Hemingway was at the bottom, already pawing at the door before they even descended the stairs.

“Come on, crazy puppy,” Harry laughed, pulling open the front door. Hemingway jet straight out the door like a bat out of hell.

“You better not take long, Maggie May,” Harry said, smirking at her.

“I won’t,” she smiled and started to make her way to her house, but not before she felt Harry playfully smack her backside.

“Harry!” She scolded and Harry laughed out loud.

Maggie smiled as she made her way into her house. It was amazing to her how their relationship changed in the blink of an eye. One minute they were down each other’s throats, the next their tongues were down each other’s throats. Funny how that worked.

When she got up to her bedroom, she retrieved her phone to see she had a new text message. From Liam.

**_Liam:_ ** _I had a good time tonight. Sorry if I freaked you out with all the Harry ‘love’ talk. But seriously, I mean it._

Maggie smiled. Liam was a sneaky little bastard. She quickly text him back as she wondered if it was his plan all along.

**_Maggie:_ ** _I had a good time too. Me and Harry – we’re good._

She set her phone down on the bed and walked into the bathroom. Of course she looked like total shit. Her makeup wasn’t running down her face, but it was blotchy and almost clown-like. She was mortified. _Stupid tears always mess shit up._ She grabbed a wash cloth and washed all the makeup away. It wasn’t as if Harry hadn’t already seen her without makeup anyway. She re-applied her deodorant, swished some mouthwash and squirted herself with her vanilla body mist before she left the bathroom. When she came back out she had another new text from Liam.

_**Liam:** Glad to hear. Did you speak to each other?_

_**Maggie:** All I am going to say is that we’re good._

_**Liam:** Okay. We’ll chat later, Maggie. :) _

_**Maggie:** Goodnight, Liam. :)_

She decided she was taking forever, so she walked out of her room, shutting off her light in the process. She went around the condo and shut off all the other lights before walking out her front door, locking it behind her. Harry was sitting on his front step watching Hemingway playing in the yard. It was dark, but of course Hemmy could find anything to keep himself busy with.

“Hey, you,” Harry said, smiling when he noticed her.

“Hi,” she said with a smile and grasped his outstretched hand.

Harry swiftly pulled her onto his lap and she let out a startled yelp. He held her as they sat in silence watching Hemingway chasing bugs around the yard

“I’m happy,” Harry breathed in Maggie’s ear.

“I’m happy too,” she told him honestly, turning her head to look at him. Harry leaned up, connecting their lips, causing Maggie to sigh pleasurably. She could definitely get use to that.

_Swoon_.

Maggie woke to the sound of the birds chirping outside the window. It took a moment, but she realized where she was and who she was with. It truly felt amazing to wake up in Harry’s arms now that they were in a good place with each other. Hemmy was cuddled up next to her legs once again and she couldn’t help but smile. They were like a cute little happy family. But as soon as Maggie moved, Hemmy was awake wondering why on earth she would possibly disturb him.

Harry’s arm was draped across her middle, making it pretty difficult to get up. She couldn’t help but think that maybe it was his way of ensuring that she’d stay. Unfortunately for both of them though, she needed to use the bathroom. Careful not to wake the sleeping giant, she maneuvered herself out from under his arm and slowly got out of the bed. Hemingway followed immediately, loudly jumping onto the floor.

“ _Shhh_ , Hem,” Maggie whispered to the puppy before tip-toeing to Harry’s bathroom.

When she finished, she came back into the bedroom in search of her clothes. Once she located them, she dressed herself so she could let Hemmy out to go to the bathroom too. Hemingway frolicked through the grass for a few moments before finally taking care of business. When Maggie opened the door and called out to him, he swiftly came running into the house.

“Good boy,” Maggie told him as she gave him a treat.

Tip-toeing to the kitchen, she began searching Harry’s pantry for Hemmy’s puppy food – wanting the dog to have some breakfast. Once she found it she filled his bowl and refilled his water dish. He seemed appreciative as he gobbled up his food. She watched him lovingly for a few moments, thinking about how amazing it was to wake up with her boys.

“Maggie! _Argh_ ,” she heard Harry practically growl. _What the hell?_ She darted into his bedroom to find him sitting up in bed with his face in his hands.

“Harry?” She questioned from the doorway feeling panicked. His head shot up to see her and he took a deep cleansing breath, looking relieved.

“I-I… I thought you left again,” he said with all the vulnerability in the world in his voice.

“No, no. I was just letting Hemingway out and feeding him,” she told him as she crawled up into bed with him.

“Okay,” he said and laid back down in bed. She couldn’t help but notice how frazzled he seemed.

“I’m sorry,” Maggie whispered as she cuddle against his warm body, his arm clutching her tightly.

“No, it’s okay. I overreacted,” he said, staring at the ceiling.

“Your heart is racing,” she said as she rest her head against his chest.

“I was about to be seriously angry with you. You would have had a good amount of explaining to do,” he said, finally looking at her.

“I’m here,” she said, trying to reassure him.

“Thank you,” he said and kissed her lips sweetly.

She never wanted to see Harry that lost ever again. It scared her and made her sad all at the same time. The two of them lay in each other’s arms for a while, kissing and cuddling before Harry had to get up to go to the studio.

“Do you want me to make you something for breakfast quickly?” Harry asked.

“If you need to go, I don’t want to keep you,” she told him.

“I’ve got time,” he said with a smile.

“Then yes… but only if you cook naked for me again,” she said, smirking mischievously.

“Only if you stay naked too. Hemingway’s just going to have to get used to you being naked over here,” Harry offered, smirking as he tugged on her tank top.

“You’re going to make me get naked just to get dressed again?” She scoffed playfully.

“I guess you don’t want my famous pancakes then?” Harry smiled slyly at her.

“Famous pancakes, huh?” She asked, quirking her eyebrow.

“Okay, they’re not famous, but they’re still good. I’ve gotten many compliments,” he chuckled.

“I guess I could live by your rules,” she said finally, sitting up to lift her tank top over her head.

“ _Mm_ ,” Harry hummed as he leaned over to kiss her, his hand going straight for her bare chest. Maggie giggled as he coaxed her back down on the bed.

“We’re not going to get anything done today if you keep on like this,” she laughed as his mouth trailed down to her chest.

“Just each other,” he quipped before the tip of his tongue danced around her already hardened nipple.

“Oh my goodness,” she gasped as he sucked the nipple into his mouth. She didn’t know if she had the will-power to stop him, but after a few minutes, she finally had to be the voice of reason.

“Harry, neither one of us is going to get to eat if you continue. You need to get to the studio,” she giggled, pushing up on his shoulders.

“ _Uhhh_ ,” Harry groaned as he sat up. He looked so disappointed and so unsatisfied.

“You know there is plenty more where that came from. We don’t need to have all our sex in the first twenty-four hours,” she giggled.

“But it would be fun. Look what you do to me,” Harry said chuckling, pointing out his arousal.

“Believe me, I am just as turned on,” she told him as he she wiggled her eyebrows at him.

“ _Mm,_ let me see,” Harry said, gripping the waistband of her shorts and pulling them off.

“Harry, _seriously!”_ Maggie laughed, wrestling with him until she was in his arms and he was kissing her.

“ _Mm,_ we’re not getting anything done today, are we?” She asked, finally giving in to his advances.

“I wish we could just stay here all day,” Harry said, digging his face into the nape of her neck.

“Me, too,” Maggie sighed.

“I do really need to get to the studio,” Harry huffed, rolling off of her finally.

“We should get up,” she agreed and sat up again.

Reluctantly they got up and as promised, Maggie was served pancakes in the nude by a very sexy, tousled-haired man. Afterward, they took a ‘quick’ shower together which turned into a not-so quick shower with a lot of touching, groping and giggling.

In the end, Harry was headed into the studio an hour late. Whereas Hemingway and Maggie went to hang out at her place, where she got ready for the day and started doing laundry to pass the time as she did some homework. Hemingway spent the rest of the morning running around in the backyard as Maggie threw around a Frisbee until the laundry needed to be changed. When she got back inside, her phone had a new text messages from Harry.

_**Harry:** I wish I was in bed with you instead of at the studio :)_

_**Maggie:** I have the same wish ;)_

Her entire body lit up thinking about Harry. She still couldn’t believe how everything just fell into place. He was finally hers. Harry Styles was _hers_. How did that even happen? _God_ , she was so in love.

Later that evening, she was being woken up by Harry. Apparently she fell asleep on the couch with Hemmy cuddled up next her.

“You really shouldn’t fall asleep with your door unlocked. I could be any madman,” Harry said as he smiled down at her.

“Hi,” she croaked, smiling up at him.

“Hey, you,” he said, leaning down to kiss her.

“How was the studio?” She asked. He lifted her legs and sat down on the couch, placing her legs across his lap.

“Same old. The songs are really coming together though. I’m pretty excited,” he said, beaming a smile at her. It was his baby. Maggie was really proud of him.

“I’m excited for you,” she told him and really meant it

“Thanks, Mags. What were you up to today?” Harry asked.

“Homework and laundry,” she told him with a smirk.

“Sounds like fun,” Harry said sarcastically.

“Hey, I have a question for you,” Maggie said, eyeing him as she lay on the couch.

“Anything,” he said, skating his fingers up and down her calf.

“Did you talk to Liam about me, you know, before last night?” She asked carefully. It had really been weighing on her.

“Liam?” Harry asked and Maggie instantly registered the edge in his voice.

“Yeah. I mean, he told me he knew your feelings for me would come out if he took me on a date,” Maggie explained.

“What?” He asked, narrowing his eyes slightly.

“I don’t know. It was just something he said to me last night after you saw him… you know, kiss me,” she told him.

“No, I never talked to Liam about it before last night,” Harry told her.

“Oh. Because Liam is the reason I even had the nerve to question our relationship last night,” she told him as she sat up on the couch.

“Really?” Harry asked confused.

“Yeah. I was confused about it. So I stormed over to your house once Liam left and the rest is history,” she explained, sitting up on the couch finally, sliding her legs off Harry’s lap.

“Liam knew?” Harry asked, almost rhetorically.

“Yeah. I mean, I guess,” she said.

“Hmm,” Harry said, staring straight ahead, like he was really thinking it over.

“He text me last night when I went back to my apartment. He wanted to know if things between us were better. I told him we’re good,” Maggie told Harry.

“You didn’t tell him about us?” Harry asked, looking over at her.

“It wasn’t my place… but I am sure he got the idea when I wouldn’t share any details. I’m pretty sure he read me like a book,” she said, smiling at him.

“You are pretty readable,” Harry said, leaning over to kiss her lips.

“Oh, so that’s why you were so clueless to my undying feelings for you?” She asked, rolling her eyes at him.

“Undying feelings?” Harry chuckled and Maggie blushed – she was such a _girl_.

“Something like that,” she said, biting at her lip.

“I like the sound of that,” Harry said and kissed her again.

It didn’t take long before the paparazzi caught wind of Harry and Maggie’s relationship. Of course she was instantly labeled as Harry’s rebound. All the tabloids made it sound like Harry was some lothario and the girls he was with were just conquests, which was exactly the opposite of what was going on. Maggie was absolutely picked apart by the media and sadly, the _One Direction_ fans. So much so, that she had to deactivate her social media accounts. She couldn’t even go online without being harassed or harangued. She tried not to let it get to her because it was all so ridiculous, but sometimes she really felt insecure. Even though behind closed doors things between her and Harry were absolutely perfect.


	14. {Fourteen - You're Killing Me}

**May 2018**

Maggie stood in front of a floor length mirror in the dressing room of a high priced lingerie store wearing nothing but a corset and panties set that was aptly named _Ooh La La_. Not that she and Harry really needed any spice in the bedroom – they were doing just fine with spice. But they’d already been dating for a month and she wanted to show him that she could be adventurous too. She was only at the lingerie store to update her bra and panty collection when the sales girl convinced her that a corset would “rock his world”. She was good – exceptionally good at her sales position, because before Maggie knew it, she was strapping herself into the contraption and looking in the mirror to see someone who sort of resembled her, but still being a little old-fashioned, would never be caught dead in a black and red lacy garment. But maybe that’s what she loved about it. It was a whole new Maggie. A whole new woman for Harry to explore. In the end, Maggie found herself whipping out her credit card faster than she could say the word ‘orgasm’.

Along with her _Ooh La La_ corset and panty purchase, she also bought five new bras and ten new pairs of panties – a bill that pretty much devastated her once she received the receipt. _Jesus Lord_. Harry better appreciate those little lace wonders.

Just her luck, as soon as she stepped out of the shop, a paparazzi she noticed trailing behind her when she went in was waiting to hound her on her way out. Harry told her countless times to just ignore them when they started asking questions – that they were just in it to get a rise out of their subjects, to get a story. But this guy was seriously stepping over the line.

“I bet you’re really good in the bedroom. Does Harry prefer blondes or brunette more?” The guys asked, causing the blood to boil up inside of her. He was obviously asking if he preferred her or Kendall better. _Fucking ass_.

 “Don’t you have something better to do than harass girls?” Maggie shot at him.

“ _Mm_ , snippy too. Does Harry enjoy that? I bet he punishes a naughty girl like you,” the disgusting man chuckled evilly.

“ _Ooh_ , you’re _so_ fucking witty,” she snapped, sending him a glare as she walked to her car.

“And that mouth… does he spank you?” He asked as he clicked another unnecessary photo of her.

“Fuck you,” Maggie snapped angrily. She knew she was giving him exactly what he wanted, but she didn’t care. He crossed the line.

The guy chuckled menacingly as she unlocked her car, throwing her purchases in the passenger seat before she sped off away from him.

_Douche, douche, douche._

How the hell do Harry and his bandmates put up with them? _Argh_.

Maggie raced home not wanting to be out and about anymore with those leeches roaming freely. Her mood went from happy and horny to angry and crabby in a split second and she hated it. As soon as she pulled into her parking space next to Harry’s _Range Rover_ , she pushed open the door and slammed it behind her with her lingerie bag in tow. She just knew those pictures of her walking out of the lingerie store were going to end up online and fuel a shit storm for Harry about the two of them.

Maggie stomped up the sidewalk after letting herself in the gate. Harry’s door opened tentatively, revealing himself and Hemmy before he closed it behind him.

“Hey there, beautiful,” Harry smiled at her. Nothing more than a grunt in response came out of her mouth.

“What’s the matter?” Harry asked, his eyebrows furrowing as he made his way toward her.

“I hate everything,” she grumbled.

“What happened?” Harry asked as he wrapped his arms around her. Maggie slowly let her body melt into his, knowing she shouldn’t take her bad attitude out on him.

“Paparazzi,” she mumbled.

“Oh, no. What now?” Harry asked sounding concerned as he pulled back to look at her.

“I was… uh, underwear shopping,” she said, wiggling the bag in her hand.

“What did they do now?” Harry asked with a huff.

“The asshole asked me if you prefer blondes or brunettes. Like it wasn’t some fucked up way of asking if you preferred me or Kendall,” she scoffed and rolled her eyes.

Harry let out a large sigh, not really even know what to say. Harry remembered them doing the same thing to Kendall when they first started dating, after he dated Taylor Swift. The only thing though was that Kendall had experience with the paparazzi. She had formal training, coming from the famous family that she had.

“I’m sorry, baby,” Harry said finally, squeezing her lightly in his arms.

“I may or may not have told him to fuck himself,” Maggie said, biting at her lip as Harry dropped his arms away from her. She knew Harry wasn’t going to be very happy that she lashed out.

“Maggie May, what did I tell you?” Harry sighed again.

“I know, but he was incredibly inappropriate. I mean, he was making me sick to my stomach with the things he was saying to me. It was sexual harassment, I swear,” she huffed.

“I’m so sorry, love,” Harry said, wrapping his arms around her again.

“I’m fine,” she said, pulling back. She didn’t need his pity hug.

“So…” He said with a smirk on his face.

“So, what?” She shot at him, unamused.

“What did you get?” He asked, nudging his head toward the bag in her hand.

All business Harry left and now standing in front of her was playful Harry. Maggie couldn’t help but smirk. She loved playful Harry.

“That’s for me to know and you to find out,” she said, teasing him.

“Maggie May! What did you get me?” He asked, practically jumping up and down like a hyper kid.

“I didn’t get _you_ anything. I got _myself_ some new bras and panties,” she told him, even though it wasn’t entirely true.

“Which are, in turn, a present for me,” he smiled animatedly, wrapping a finger around the edge of the bag, trying to peek inside.

“Get your grubby little hands out of there,” Maggie exclaimed, pulling the bag away from his grasp.

“ _Maggie_ ,” Harry whined.

“You are a little boy right now,” Maggie laughed. He was so incredibly adorable.

“A _horny_ little boy,” Harry purred, wrapping his arms around her as he rubbed himself against her sexually.

“You are terrible!” Maggie gasped, swatting at him with a wide smile on her face.

“Come on! You’ve peaked my interest with that mystery bag. Are you going to show me or not?” Harry asked with a sigh.

“Not,” Maggie laughed as she started walking toward her front door.

“MAGGIE MAY COVINGTON!” Harry yelped, jetting towards her. Maggie giggled as she began unlocking her door.

“You’re going to deny me even when I do this?” He asked, twirling her around and pushing her up against the outer wall of her condo, pressing his lips to hers in a fantastically tantalizing kiss.

“ _Mmm_ … maybe later,” Maggie breathed against his lips.

“Even when I do this…?” Harry asked as his fingers trailed up the front of her shirt, cupping around her breast.

“Harry! We’re outside!” She protested, smacking his hand away.

“I don’t care. I want to see you in whatever is in that bag,” he moaned against her neck.

“You’re killing me,” she moaned, feeling her body start to react to his sensual touches and kisses.

“That… is… the… point,” he said, kissing her neck and collarbone at every pause. His hips were rocking into hers as one of his thighs was positioned between her legs pressing against her heat.

“Come by at seven,” she said breathlessly, finally giving into his games.

“Seven?” He asked happily, popping his head up to look at her, in turn, ceasing his seduction tactics.

“Seven,” she told him, still pressed firmly against the side of her house.

“Done!” He smiled widely at her and she couldn’t help but laugh. He truly was a brat.

“You’re the best, baby,” Harry said, giving her one last peck on the lips before adjusting himself.

“You better think so later,” she quipped as she peeled herself away from the wall.

“I can’t wait,” he said, giving her a seductive smile.

“See you in a few hours,” she said, leaning in to kiss his lips one last time before she disappeared into her condo.

She had less than three hours to ‘get ready’ for him. She immediately jumped in the shower making a preliminary checklist in her head of the things she needed to get done before Harry showed up – hard-on ready. _Shower, shave, do her hair, decorate her face, squeeze into the skimpy corset_ … And that was just the basics.

When she got out of the shower, she towel dried herself and stood in front of the bathroom mirror looking at her naked self. She couldn’t look away, even though she was feeling extremely self-conscious. She never understood what men saw in breasts and a vagina. They didn’t paint a pretty picture to her. They were odd. Breast were made for the sheer purpose of feeding small babies, not for men’s amusement. Yet there they were, never having lived up to their true potential. Not yet anyway. Prying herself away from the mirror, she put on a cover up that hung on the bathroom door. She went about drying and curling her hair before applying some smoky black eye shadow and eyeliner she had from Halloween the past year. She wanted to give Harry the whole vixen effect and before she knew it, she was looking at herself in the mirror with a head of blonde curls and the most daring makeup she had ever worn – to go along with the most daring outfit she had ever worn. Along with the _Ooh La La_ corset and panties, Maggie put on some black thigh high panty hose and a pair of black heels to tie the whole ensemble together.

Right on cue a seven o’clock – Harry was coming through her door, calling her name up the stairs in her condo. Maggie stayed stationed in the bedroom perfectly poised on the bed for him. Her stomach tightened as she heard his footsteps coming up the stairs. She didn’t know why she was so nervous – Harry was going to lose it when he saw her. She figured it was just her bashful nature shining through.

“Baby?” Harry called.

“In the bedroom,” she replied just loud enough for him to hear.

The lights were dim – only the bed side lamp was on. But she saw his face once he got a look at her. His eyes went wide and his jaw nearly dropped to the floor.

“ _Oh. My. God_ ,” he gasped. It was a perfect reaction.

“Is this what you wanted to see?” She asked, sitting forward, getting up on her knees on the bed.

“Uh-huh,” he breathed, his mouth still agape.

“Well, are you going to touch me or what?” She asked seductively, sliding her index finger down the curve of her breast, teasing him.

“You… you… _ohmygod_ ,” he said, stepping forward toward her, still raking his eyes up and down the lingerie.

“Yeah, you said that,” she said, smiling amusingly at him.

“ _Maggie May_ ,” he hissed, emphasizing every syllable of her name.

“Come unwrap me,” she breathed.

“You… _ohmygod_. You’re going to make me come just looking at you – then you say things like that... I don’t stand a chance,” he said, finally touching her as his hands slid around to her backside. Maggie let out a light laugh as Harry’s nose nuzzled the side of her jaw.

“You are sex defined, baby,” Harry breathed, sliding his mouth up to meet hers.

He was ravenous. His hands cupped her bottom tightly in his hands as he pulled her toward him. She could feel his erection against the lower end of her stomach and it made her moan against his lips.

“ _Oh my god_. I just can’t get over this,” Harry breathed, resting his forehead against hers, looking down at her attire. His hands travelled up the length of her torso and grabbed her breasts hungrily.

“I’m glad you like it,” she said, feeling pleased at her choice to buy the overpriced garment.

“I fucking _love_ it,” he groaned as his hand squeezed and released her breast several times.

His mouth met hers once again, making her lose her mind with the way he was kissing and touching her. She then realized that it was a good idea to buy the corset. _Definitely_ a good idea.

“I don’t want to even take it off of you,” he breathed, still looking absolutely struck.

“How are we going to get to the sex if we don’t take it off?” She asked curiously.

“Well… we can just take the panties off, right? I want this—” He said grabbing both her breasts through the corset, “—to stay on.”

“Well, this is all for you. You can do whatever you want, baby,” she told him.

“If that’s the case…” He said as he dug his hands in the front of the corset and popped out each of her breasts, “there.”

Maggie giggled at him and he seemed satisfied with his decision.

“Let’s get these panties off of you. I am dying here,” Harry groaned as he maneuvered her onto her back on the bed.

“Take _your_ clothes off,” Maggie commanded him and Harry smirked pleasurably at her.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said and began immediately undressing.

Maggie watched, living out her fantasy in real life as Harry, one by one, removed all his clothing. He was the perfect specimen. Chiseled and toned in all the right areas. Tanned, smooth skin with dark tattoos adorning his chest, stomach and left arm. His whole body was perfect.

“God, you are beautiful,” Maggie sighed, in complete awe of him. She still wondered how she snagged a man like him. What did he see in her?

“So are you,” he said, smiling adoringly at her as she sat on the bed watching him. He was standing in front of her completely naked and it absolutely took her breath away.

He knelt carefully on the bed and leaned down to kiss her, but in an instant he stood back up and crossed the room to her dresser, retrieving a condom from her new supply she bought since they started dating. Once he was suited up, he walked back over to the bed, eyeing her fervently.

“God damn,” he breathed, causing Maggie to giggle.

Harry grabbed onto her thighs and pulled her to the edge of the bed, vigorously. She yelped playfully, but he kept his hardened sexual mask on his face. Without wasting any time, Harry grabbed a hold of the sides of the black and red panties and ripped them down her legs. Maggie let out a low groan when he did, loving his _take-charge_ attitude.

“I am so ready for you, Mags,” Harry said, pulling her body to him once again so her bottom was just barely dangling off the side of the bed.

“Mm-hmm,” Maggie hummed, grasping the sheets between her fingertips, preparing herself for his entrance.

With one or two more breaths, Harry plunged in, causing Maggie to cry out with pleasure. Her eyelids closing tightly as her head tilted back against the mattress.

“Oh, God. _Yes_ ,” Maggie moaned.

“Keep that up. I love hearing you,” Harry told her as he began his delicious rhythm in and out of her.

“ _Mmm_ ,” she hummed as she bit her lip.

His movements were intoxicating. Maggie was certain she wasn’t going to last long. She’d been anticipating this since their meeting earlier that day. The roughness and the speed were more than she could handle and she could already feel the first waves of orgasm breaking through.

“Oh, _God_ ,” Maggie gasped loudly.

“Go, baby,” Harry urged.

“Oh. _Now_. _Ohhh_ ,” she moaned as it hit her hard. Her body shook as Harry continued his rapid movement in and out of her. When her body settled, Harry pulled out completely.

“Wha..?” Maggie asked confused as she looked up at him.

“Turn over,” he commanded with a hint of adventure in his eye.

“ _Mmm_ ,” she moaned as she did what was asked of her.

Harry pushed toward her on the bed, kneeling behind her. Maggie was on all fours for him, but that’s not how he wanted her. Harry wrapped his arms around her torso, coaxing her onto her stomach, him on top of her. He pulled her hips and bottom up slightly so he could enter from behind. _Oh, God_. She was certain the way he was hitting her would have her coming again in no time.

“Oh my god, Harry. _Oh my god_ ,” Maggie moaned as his hands snaked up to massage her breasts in his hands.

“This outfit was… the best idea… you’ve ever had,” Harry groaned out breathlessly as he continued to thrust into her.

“Yes. Oh my god. _Yes_ ,” she moaned.

One or two more thrusts and she would be there…

“ _Oh, God_ ,” Maggie moaned wildly as another orgasm shook her to her core.

“Fuck, baby… _oh my god_ ,” Harry grunted as he began to shake too.

“Oh, _Mags_ ,” he moaned as he fell forward against her body, having found his end too.

They lay there panting and out of breath, still in the same position. Neither one could move.

“Never take this off,” Harry said breathlessly, feeling the fabric between his fingers as he kissed her shoulder blade.

“ _Mmm_ , if it wasn’t digging into my rib cage, I might actually consider that,” Maggie giggled.

“I read somewhere that pain is beauty,” Harry joked, letting out a laugh.

“ _Mm-hmm_. You get to be butt-naked and beautiful, whereas I need to wear skimpy lingerie to be beautiful?” She countered, turning over to face him.

“Maggie May, I never said that,” Harry said quickly, furrowing his brow in concern. Maggie maneuvered out from underneath him and they both sat up.

“You find me beautiful, but exceptionally more appealing when I wear this?” She asked, purposely trying to get a rise out of him.

“Don’t put words into my mouth,” Harry warned.

“Tell me, Harry…” She began, cocking an eyebrow.

“I’ll gladly rip this thing right off of you right now and show you how beautiful you are to me,” Harry said, jumping on top of her, causing her to cry out joyously.

“Show me! _Oh_ , show me,” Maggie said dramatically and playfully.

“Don’t tempt me,” Harry warned, looking down at her seductively.

Harry spent the rest of the night ravaging Maggie – in and out of the _Ooh La La_ corset. To Maggie, it was one of the best nights in memory. She loved spending nights with Harry, and when they could be intimate, it was like icing on the cake. She’d never trade their relationship for anything.

Before they settled down for bed, Harry went over to his place to get Hemmy since he was going to spend the night at Maggie’s place. Harry didn’t bother to dress himself except for his boxer briefs, because he was literally just dashing over to his house to get the dog. Maggie thought it quite amusing as she watched from the front window, wrapped in one of the sheets from her bed. The three of them fell asleep cuddled up together in Maggie’s bed. It was the perfect ending to a perfect night.

Maggie woke-up with a start in the dim bedroom. Her heart was beating hard in her chest and her naked body was layered with a thin sheathing of sweat. She’d just woken up from a terrible dream – one with evil paparazzi and a boyfriend who no longer wanted anything to do with her. Maggie looked down at Harry sleeping face down in the bed next to her. She could hear his soft breaths as he slept soundly alongside Hemingway, who was now alert and looking up at her through the stillness. Maggie thought back on her night with Harry and tried to hold onto those memories while her bad dream radiated through her.

When Maggie got out of bed, she found her floor layered with their clothing and it brought a smile to her face. Yes, that corset was a great purchase. It was worth every penny. Thinking about the corset and the previous day, she remembered the nasty photographer that hounded her on her way back to her car yesterday. She thought maybe it was the reason she had such a negative dream, and cursed the guy under her breath. She wondered what would even come of the pointless pictures he took off her. Curiously, she turned on her lap top and crawled back into bed with Harry. She wanted to see what the gossip sites were saying about her and Harry after her little lingerie spree.

She was certain it was going to be something stupid. Maggie bit her lip as her stomach turned, finding more than just those photos online. It absolutely more than she bargained for.

Below the pictures of Maggie walking out of the lingerie store with her bag full of goodies, she found pictures of the two of them outside their apartment. There must have been a pap stationed outside of the fence of their condos – or that same foul-mouth pap followed her home – because they snapped a series of photos from when Maggie came home from the lingerie store. From Harry’s first greeting to his happy little dry hump on her up against the wall. They even got close pictures of his thigh between her legs and his hand groping up her shirt. Maggie was sick over it. She couldn’t believe it and for a second even thought she might still be in the middle of her bad dream. But alas, she wasn’t.

Maggie scrolled on – realizing that those pictures weren’t even the end of it. It was the next set of pictures that had her jaw dropped open. There were pictures of Harry walking into Maggie’s house later on, when he first came at seven. And then pictures of him leaving her house wearing only his boxer briefs, then going back to her house moments later with Hemingway in tow.

“Oh my god,” she breathed to herself. Do these people have any decency? They were being stalked now?

“What’s the matter?” Harry croaked sleepily from next to her in the bed.

“Harry…” She breathed, her voice cracking with emotion. She felt sick to her stomach.

“What?” He asked, sitting up in bed, registering the concern in her voice.

“They… they have pictures…” Maggie said quietly.

“Who?” He asked, looking at her questioningly before he turned to look at the computer screen.

Maggie handed him the laptop and watched as he began to scroll through.

“Are these you at the lingerie store?” Harry asked, looking over at her.

“Yes. Just keep going,” she said, pointing him back to the computer screen where he continued to scroll until he saw the pictures of them in the yard and the ones of him dry humping and groping her. He looked a little bit more concerned, but played it off well.

“Look,” Maggie said as she showed him the ones of him in his boxers leaving and then reentering her apartment.

She hadn’t noticed it before, but now she could even see herself at her front window wrapped up in a sheet in the picture where Harry ran to his own place in boxer shorts. Harry ran his hands through his hair and let out a large exasperated gust of air from his mouth.

“ _Jesus_ ,” Harry grumbled under his breath. He seemed distressed over it in a matter of moments.

“This is too much,” Maggie said, wrapping her arms around herself, feeling completely violated.

“Maggie,” Harry said, looking over at her. He quickly closed the laptop screen and set it down on the nightstand next to him. The entire room went dark.

“Maggie…” Harry said, leaning over to pull her into his arms.

“I’m sorry, babe,” he said, nuzzling his face into the nape of her neck.

“Why are you sorry?” She breathed.

“Because we wouldn’t be in this situation if it wasn’t for me,” he said quietly.

“Harry…” Maggie whispered, wrapping her arms around him.

“I’m sorry that you have to go through this. It’s vile,” he told her.

“Harry, it’s okay,” she told him, cuddling up to his naked body.

“It’s not okay,” he retorted.

“Yeah…” She breathed, knowing it _definitely_ wasn’t okay.

“I hate that they’re dragging you into this,” Harry told her.

“I chose you, Harry. I want you. I knew what I was getting into,” she told him.

“I don’t think you did,” he told her honestly.

“Well, I mean. I suppose I didn’t really know how far they would take it. And I definitely didn’t know how cruel your fans could be,” Maggie said quietly.

“I’m sorry,” Harry said, cringing.

“It’s not your fault, Harry,” she told him, holding him tightly in her arms.

“Just know, Maggie… just know I’ll do everything I can to protect you,” he told her sincerely.

“Okay,” she breathed, her cheek pressed against his bare chest. She could hear his heart beating and it comforted her.


	15. {Fifteen - Hoolihan's)

**May 2018**

Harry was leaving. He had a trip planned to go to Hawaii with his friends for longer than he and Maggie had been dating. And the time had finally come and Maggie was dreading it. She didn’t want him to leave her, even if it was only for two weeks. It was two weeks too long. Harry offered to buy her a ticket so she could go with him, but even though she wanted to go so badly, her school schedule wouldn’t allow it. There would be no way she could skip out on two weeks of school and expect her grades not to slip even more than they already had. She needed to focus, so she could get back up to her 4.0 gpa.

Along with his friends, Harry’s sister was also going with him on the trip and Maggie was more than a little excited for her to fly into California before the trip. Maggie was thrilled that she would get to spend a little time with someone from Harry’s family – especially someone he was so close to. Gemma was his best friend.

The moment Harry and Maggie picked Gemma up from the airport, Maggie knew she would love the older Styles sibling. She was beautiful and sophisticated and, like Harry, she was a genuinely nice person. Gemma threw her arms around Maggie as soon as Harry introduced the two of them.

“I’ve heard so much about you, Maggie. I feel like I already know you. My brother doesn’t stop talking about you, _ever_ ,” Gemma said, pulling back from their hug.

“Harry gushes about you all the time too,” Maggie told her honestly. He loved his older sister and looked up to her so much.

“Alright, alright. That’s enough,” Harry told the two of them.

“Are we embarrassing you?” Maggie asked, smiling over at Harry.

“A little,” he said, smirking at her.

“Oh, Harry,” Gemma snickered, poking at his ever-present dimple.

Maggie insisted that Gemma sit in the front seat of Harry’s Range Rover as they drove home from the airport, but that didn’t keep Gemma from turning in the seat to face Maggie so the two could talk incessantly about Harry.

“Would you like me to pull over so you can just sit back there with her?” Harry asked his sister sarcastically.

“I’m good. Carry on,” Gemma said, beaming a smile at her baby brother before turning back to Maggie.

“So, seriously. When did you two start dating? It’s been so long since I’ve gotten on with one of Harry’s girlfriends,” Gemma asked Maggie.

“You didn’t get along with Kendall?” Maggie asked, her heart sputtering a little in her chest. It made her feel validated to hear that someone else didn’t like Kendall too.

“Oh, _no_ ,” Gemma said dramatically.

“Gem, you didn’t even give her a chance,” Harry said and Maggie caught his eye roll through the rear view mirror.

“She _shouldn’t_ even be famous, Harry,” Gemma said passionately and Maggie couldn’t help but snicker to herself.

“Oh, here we go,” Harry groaned.

“She’s only bloody famous because her sister made a sex tape!” Gemma shot at him.

“Right!?” Maggie erupted. She never let herself speak about Kendall in front of Harry out of respect, but she had a lot of thoughts about her and she found she was unable to hold them back when there was someone else making such valid points.

“She’s been piggy-backing her fame off of her overrated sister her whole life,” Gemma continued.

Harry’s eyes caught Maggie’s through the rear view mirror and Maggie bit back her smile. She didn’t want to upset Harry.

“Okay, enough,” Harry told his sister.

“It’s bloody ridiculous. You have to admit that, don’t you, Harry?” Gemma addressed him.

“I don’t have to admit anything,” Harry told her.

“You don’t see me trying to get fortune and fame because my brother is a world famous singer,” Gemma added. Maggie snickered again. It was amusing to watch them bicker.

“Gem,” Harry snapped.

“Seriously,” Gemma pressed. Harry let out a laugh.

“Anyway,” Gemma said, focusing back on Maggie as the two exchanged a knowing smile.

“I’m honestly glad to see my brother actually _does_ have good taste in women,” Gemma said, sending Maggie another smile.

“Thank you,” Maggie said, smiling bashfully back at her.

“So, you’re neighbors?” Gemma asked Maggie.

“Yep. We live right next door to one another,” Maggie told her.

“The girl next door,” Gemma cooed at Harry, which made him chuckle.

“Adorable,” Gemma told the two of them.

The three of them grabbed some take-out before finally arriving at Harry and Maggie’s building. Harry brought Gemma’s luggage into his house as the two girls continued to talk to one another.

After they ate their food, Gemma suggested the three of them do something that evening so she could continue to get to know Maggie before they left in the morning for Hawaii.

“So, what should we do tonight?” Maggie asked the two Styles siblings.

“I don’t know. I was kind of hoping to go out. Where’s somewhere good to go?” Gemma asked.

In an instant Harry and Maggie gave each other a look before both smiling at one another, thinking back to a night not too long ago when they spent an evening together at a bar.

“What?” Gemma asked, looking between them.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Harry asked Maggie, quirking his eyebrow.

“I don’t know. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Maggie asked with a wide smile.

“You two are sickening adorable. Stop it,” Gemma said, playfully rolling her eyes.

“ _Hoolihan’s_?” Harry asked Maggie, unable to keep the smile off his face.

“ _Hoolihan’s_ ,” Maggie confirmed with a nod of her head.

“Well, alright then. Shall we?” Gemma asked, letting out a little laugh.

The three of them readied to go to the bar and walked the six blocks to the tiny little hole-in-the-wall bar where Harry and Maggie shared some very fond memories together.

“So, what’s so special about this place?” Gemma asked them and Harry and Maggie couldn’t help but look at one another with fond smiles on their faces.

“What?” Gemma asked impatiently, staring at the two of them.

“It’s just a good bar. Drink your beer,” Harry told her as he took a swig of his own drink. Maggie let out a laugh and took a drink too.

Two hours, six shots and three beers later for each of them, Gemma and Maggie were scrolling through the jukebox together, giggling and being silly.

“Oh my god!” Gemma yelped excitedly.

“What?” Maggie asked, leaning against the music machine.

“They have One Direction. I can’t believe it. This bar is bloody tiny and they have One Direction on their jukebox,” Gemma gushed.

“I know,” Maggie said, smiling fondly. She definitely knew first hand.

“G-7,” Gemma said, punching the buttons to put one of 1D’s songs into their playlist.

“I’m so excited,” Gemma said, clapping her hands together. Maggie couldn’t help but giggle. It was cute how much Gemma and Harry loved and supported each other.

“Were you a One Direction fan before you met Harry?” Gemma asked Maggie seriously.

“Actually, no,” Maggie told her.

“I love you even more now,” Gemma giggled.

“Why?” Maggie laughed.

“Cause you’re not a gold digger,” Gemma snickered.

“Oh, _I am_ ,” Maggie said jokingly and the two girls laughed out loud together.

“What’s so funny?” Harry asked as he walked up to his sister and his girlfriend.

“Maggie was just telling me how excited she was to be dating you for your money,” Gemma giggled. Maggie drunkenly laughed out loud.

“Oh, yeah?” Harry laughed, heightening his eyebrows at Maggie as he wrapped his arm around her waist.

“Yes. What are you worth? One mil? Two mil?” Maggie joked, causing Gemma to almost choke on the sip of beer she just took.

“You girls are insane,” Harry chuckled, rolling his eyes.

“Harry’s worth a lot more than two million,” Gemma chimed in.

“ _Jeez_ ,” Maggie said, thinking two million sounded like more money than one person would ever need.

“Try fifty million,” Gemma said, taking another sip of her beer. Maggie was dumbfounded. Fifty million dollars? _Holy shit_.

“A bit more than that, but that’s neither here nor there,” Harry corrected his sister.

“ _Oh my god_ ,” Maggie gasped, taking a step back to really get a good look at him. He was _way_ out of her league and she knew it.

“What?” Harry said with a light uncomfortable chuckle, looking over at Maggie.

“I…I’m speechless right now,” Maggie told him.

“Money doesn’t mean anything,” Harry scoffed.

“Says the multi-millionaire,” Gemma snickered.

“Wow. Uh, anyway…” Maggie said, trying to shake off the fact that there was yet another thing she and Harry _didn’t_ have in common. She knew he had money, obviously. But for fucks sake, _fifty million plus?_

“Maggie,” Harry pressed, putting his arm around her waist again.

“What’s the matter?” He whispered in her ear.

“Nothing. Nothing,” she said, looking over at him, trying to act normal.

“It doesn’t matter,” Harry told her.

“I know, Harry. I know,” Maggie told him, giving him her best smile.

“Good,” he said, smiling at her before kissing her lips sweetly.

“Aww, you two,” Gemma gushed watching the two of them.

A moment later the opening bars of _Drag Me Down_ filled the small bar and Gemma let out a loud whoop. Harry and Maggie couldn’t help but laugh.

“C’mon, Mags. Dance with me!” Gemma yelped, grabbing her hand to pull her out on the small dance floor. Harry watched the two of them dance for a few moments before Maggie grabbed his hand and pulled him out there with them.

“I’m having flashbacks,” Harry said, looking over at Maggie with a smirk.

“ _Mm-hmm_. Such a good night,” Maggie giggled.

“What night?” Gemma asked curiously. Harry quirked his eyebrow at Maggie as the next song on the jukebox started to play. Maggie giggled at him as the two of them stared at each other.

“I’m not a fan of inside jokes unless I’m on the inside,” Gemma said firmly with her hands on her hips.

“It was the night—” Maggie began.

“Maggie May!” Harry snipped and Maggie’s eyes shot up to his jovial ones. His eyes were telling her to keep her mouth shut, but Maggie couldn’t help herself.

“Oh, your sister knows you have sex!” Maggie said drunkly and Gemma let out a snort.

“And now so does the whole pub,” Harry said, smirking at Maggie.

“It was the first night we slept together,” Maggie said, telling Gemma in a low voice.

“Oh, little brother,” Gemma teased, squeezing Harry’s cheek playfully.

“Quit it,” Harry said, swatting her hand away, but he had a smile on his face so both girls knew he wasn’t really upset.

“Harry seduced me,” Maggie giggled and Gemma let out a ‘tsk’ in her brother’s direction.

“Maggie _fucking_ May!” Harry said, his jaw dropping as he stared at her. Maggie let out a loud laugh and couldn’t help the subsequent giggles.

“Harry _fucking_ Styles!” Gemma scolded him playfully.

“I did not seduce you. As I remember it, it was quite the other way around,” Harry said, staring dumbfounded at his girlfriend.

“ _What!?”_ Maggie yelped, looking at him incredulously, letting out a laugh.

“Yes!” Harry said with his hands on his hips.

“You’re delusional, Styles!” Maggie told him.

“You two are absolutely adorable,” Gemma said, smiling at the pair of them.

“I’m delusional?” Harry asked incredulously.

“Yes! You are!” Maggie laughed.

“As I recall—” Harry began to explain.

“No! As _I_ recall, you were the one who was all ‘I wonder if you’re anything like the Maggie May in the song’,” Maggie said, doing a horrible impression of Harry – British accent and all, which caused Gemma to laugh out loud.

“That sounds nothing like me,” Harry said with a smirk.

“I’m not familiar. What is the Maggie May like in the song?” Gemma asked curiously.

“Go ahead, Harry. Tell her the lyrics you sang to me that night when you _seduced_ me,” Maggie challenged, sending him a smug smirk. Harry narrowed his eyes and smiled at her.

“Harry?” Gemma asked, smiling at her baby brother.

“’ _You turned into a lover and mother, what a lover. You wore me out,’”_ Harry said flatly, refraining from singing it, but never taking his eyes off of Maggie.

“ _Wow_ ,” Gemma said, staring at her brother while Harry and Maggie stared at each other.

“See,” Maggie said.

“I’m going to have to side with Maggie on this one, little brother,” Gemma told him.

“Ha!” Maggie yelped, pointing her finger at Harry before she bounced up and down, only then breaking their intense stare. Harry just smirked and shook his head lightly.

“I’d do it all over again,” Harry told her confidently.

“Oh my god. Harry!” Gemma laughed.

Maggie giggled and leaned in to kiss Harry lightly on the lips, but Harry had other plans as he pulled her in and kissed her deeply.

“You’re making me want a boyfriend,” Gemma whined as the two of them finally pulled away from each other.

Maggie could see the seductive look Harry was giving her and it made a jolt of excitement skate up her spine. But both of them knew this night would not end with the two of them fucking each other’s brains out. Not when they had company.

Instead, their night ended up with the three of them drunkly passed out in Harry’s bed together and in the morning they nearly missed the alarm to wake them up. Harry and Gemma ended up rushing around trying to get ready before their airport transportation was scheduled to get there to pick them up. Maggie quickly made them some breakfast to scarf down before they left.

When the airport shuttle finally came to get them, Maggie felt nothing but absolute dread and sadness.

“I wish you were coming, love,” Harry told Maggie as he held her in his arms in the courtyard.

“I wish I could,” Maggie said, feeling the sadness wrap tightly around her heart, knowing she wouldn’t see Harry for almost two weeks.

“I’ll be back in no time. I promise. You won’t even miss me,” Harry said, taking her face in his hands.

“That’s the problem – I will,” she told him.

“You’ll have Hemingway to keep you company,” he said with a smile.

“He doesn’t cuddle as well,” she said, managing to make a joke through the tears and Harry laughed.

“You’re my girl and I am coming back to you in two weeks,” he told her.

“Have fun and come back in one piece,” she told him.

“I will. Take care of my little lad,” he said, nodding toward Hemmy playing in the yard.

“I always do. Now go. They’re all waiting for you,” she told him as she nodded toward the shuttle that was packed full of his friends.

“Okay,” Harry said, kissing her one more time before he turned to go.

He gave her one last wave as the shuttle door closed before it pulled away from the curb and she was left alone.


	16. {Sixteen - Shirtless}

**May 2018**

The Distance between Los Angeles, California to Lahaina, Hawaii was 2497 miles – five and a half hours by airplane. To Maggie it felt like more than that. What did Hawaii have that Los Angeles didn’t? Hula dancers, Lei’s, Luau’s, and her boyfriend.

She missed Harry so much. They’d only been seeing each other for a little over a month, but she’d been in love with him for nearly a year. She felt like she should be allotted a few moments to whine about how much she missed him. Thank God for _Skype_ and _Facetime_ though – even though they were sometimes unsuccessful in getting together for their scheduled internet dates. But three days into his vacation she finally got him on the line.

“Hey, baby. I miss you so much,” Maggie said once his beautiful face popped up on the screen.

“My love,” he said in his deep, sensual voice.

“I miss that face,” she said, smiling widely.

“Well, you can type my name into Google and see it any time. All I get is this…” Harry said, holding up his iPhone to a picture of her sleeping that was set as his wallpaper.

“When did you take that, _stalkerazzi_ _?”_ She laughed.

“The other night. You looked so peaceful and perfect. I had to take a picture,” he said, smiling brightly at her.

“Aww, you’re so cute, Styles,” she told him.

“No, sleepy you is cute,” he said, looking down at the phone one more time before he devoted his undivided attention to her right-then-and-there self.

“Are you naked right now? Because naked you is _sexy_ ,” she said, eyeing him through the computer screen. He wasn’t wearing a shirt – that much was she was sure of.

“No. I’ve got shorts on – see,” he laughed as he stood up so the crotch of his shorts was at eye level.

“Take those off and then we’ll really have a show! _Ow, ow!”_ Maggie laughed as he sat back down.

“Cheeky,” he said, eyeing her.

“So you just sit around half naked?” She giggled.

“I got sunburned today,” he said, sticking out his bottom lip, making a sad face.

“Oh, no. I’m sorry. I wish I could rub you down with aloe,” she told him, mimicking his pouty lip.

“I wish you could rub me down with anything,” he said, bobbing his eyebrows.

“Horny, are we?” She giggled.

“Yes!” He huffed.

“I’m sorry, baby. If I were there I’d make it better,” she told him.

“Take off your shirt,” he said, his eyebrow cocking suggestively.

“No, Harry…” she said with an embarrassed laugh.

“Come on. _I’m_ shirtless,” he pointed out.

“Uh, speaking of shirtless… the internet is _blowing up_ with shirtless pictures of you and the guys on the beach. Girls heads are exploding around the globe,” Maggie chuckled.

“Ha. Exploding heads, huh?” He laughed.

“Either that or their vaginas. It’s a mess,” she joked.              

“Ha. Oh, wow. _Graphic_ ,” Harry laughed out loud.

“You’re off being shirtless and sexy without me,” Maggie pouted again.

“Speaking of – you changed the subject,” Harry pointed out.

“From what?” She asked.

“Take off your shirt,” he stated again with a smile on his face.

“Harry Edward Styles, you can live without seeing my… _assets_ for a week,” she told him.

“No… I… _can’t_ ,” he said dramatically.

“Does it make you jealous that I get to see your chest and you don’t get to see mine?” She teased.

“Yes,” he growled playfully, covering up his chest with his arms and Maggie laughed.

“Come on…” He whined, grabbing at the screen.

“What are you doing?” Maggie laughed.

“Pretending to grab your boobs,” he said with a devilish smirk.

“How is that working out for you?” She laughed.

“It’s not the same,” he whined as his smile dropped.

“Oh, you poor deprived boy,” Maggie joked.

“ _Please_ take off your shirt,” he told her again.

“Jeesh!” Maggie scoffed.

“I said ‘please’,” he said with a sweet smile.

“Fine,” she grumbled, slipping the t-shirt over her head leaving her in her bra.

“Oh, baby! Your brassiere, too, madam,” he said, eyes wide and waiting.

“You said _shirt_ ,” she protested.

“MAGGIE MAY!” Harry whined loudly.

“HAZZA!” She whined in an over-the-top manner.

“Stop being a cock-tease!” He shot at her.

“Cock-tease!? _Pssh_. Do you want me to put the shirt back on, you ass?” She threatened.

“No, baby. Please,” he begged and she laughed out loud.

“Come on. It’s been three days,” he said, going back to whining.

“Okay. Well, it’s been three days for me too and I’ve had to endure seeing countless shirtless pictures of you on the internet and now having you sitting half-naked in front of me – and then on top of that, you shove your crotch in the camera. My vagina hasn’t exploded yet, I am sure you’re penis will be just fine,” she laughed. Seconds later, Harry stood up as he dropped his shorts, flashing her his penis.

“OH MY GOD! HARRY STYLES!” Maggie laughed as he sat back down in his seat.

“Free preview. Now, I showed you mine – please, show me yours,” he said with a wide devilish smile.

“Oh my god. _Ha._ Harry. You’re out of control,” she said through a fit of giggles.

“Maggie…” He growled playfully.

“Alright, alright,” she said, grabbing for the clasp of her bra, which was conveniently in the front. She undid it as Harry looked on contently. She flashed him playfully for just a quick second before she covered up again.

“Maggie, that’s not even fair,” Harry grumbled.

“Fine,” she sighed and opened it for him.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about,” Harry said, getting a good glimpse.

Maggie felt more than a little uncomfortable. She never did anything like this before. It was beyond her comfort level.

“So, tell me what we’d be doing right now if you were here with me,” Harry said suggestively.

“Oh, _wow_ ,” Maggie laughed as her cheeks heated up exponentially.

“Come on, baby,” Harry coaxed.

“What? You’re crazy. Anybody could be listening right now,” Maggie told him.

“The other blokes are out by the beach,” Harry reassured her.

“Oh my god,” Maggie said, putting her hand over her massively pink face.

“Come on, Maggie May. What would we be doing with each other?” Harry continued.

“Uh…jet-skiing?” Maggie joked.

“Maggie May!” Harry laughed out loud.

“Oh, was that not the right answer?” Maggie giggled uncontrollably.

“What would we be doing in this room? In bed?” Harry coached her.

“I don’t know. _Harry…_ ” Maggie whined.

“You said if you were here you’d make it better and believe me, Maggie, I need you to make it better,” Harry said, standing up to show her his hard-on through his shorts.

“Oh my god, Harry,” Maggie giggled. She had no idea she had such an influence on him.

“ _Please_ , Maggie,” Harry begged.

“Fine. Uh, I don’t know. We’d be in the bed and…” Maggie began, but was promptly cut off.

“Hey, Harry… _holy shit!”_ She heard a voice that was definitely _not_ Harry’s.

“Oh my god,” she yelped, covering herself up as fast as she could.

“ _Louis!_ Get the fuck out of here!” Harry yelled at his best mate.

“I didn’t think you two were _cybering_ in here!” Louis laughed jovially.

“Oh my god,” Maggie groaned, putting her shirt back on.

“’Ello, love,” she heard and saw Louis’ face pop into the viewable screen.

“Hi, Louis. _Oh my god_ ,” she said, hiding her face behind her hand. She was so embarrassed. Louis just chuckled amusingly.

“You look good. _Healthy_ ,” he said, cupping his hands up by his chest, making a joke out of it.

“Oh my god,” Maggie gasped again.

“Get the fuck out of here!” Harry said, pushing his best mate away. All she could hear was Louis laughing in the background. 

“Pervert. Leave,” Harry told him.

“I’m going,” Louis laughed.

Maggie heard the door close after Louis left and Harry focused back on her.

“I am never doing that again,” she told Harry firmly.

“COME ON! That’s not fair!” Harry protested.

“Louis Tomlinson just saw my bare chest. There has literally only been a handful of guys that have seen my naked chest – well now six…” She told him.

“You harlot!” Harry said, feigning a gasp.

“Yeah. Well, seven billion people have the opportunity to see _your_ bare chest,” she pointed out.

“I’m kind of a tramp, aren’t I?” Harry laughed.

“Totally,” she agreed.

Harry and Maggie had countless more _Skype_ and _Facetime_ dates while he was in Hawaii – none of them being as eventful as the first. Maggie was still incredibly mortified that Louis saw her boobs. _How ridiculous_. Putting her embarrassment aside, she couldn’t wait to see Harry’s face again. Only seeing him through a computer or phone screen just wasn’t enough. And luckily for her there was only one more lonely night alone and he would be wrapped up in her arms, preferably naked. She couldn’t wait.


	17. {Seventeen - Happy Tears}

_Twelve days_. Twelve long agonizing days Maggie waited alone for Harry – well, not entirely alone. She had the pooch by her side. Hemmy made the nights less lonely. He cuddled her every night that Harry was gone and was there every morning when she woke up. Hemmy was the perfect boyfriend, yes. Loyal, faithful, cute, and cuddly. What more could anyone ask for in a partner? She supposed maybe one that didn’t slobber so much when giving kisses. Hemmy’s kisses left a lot to be desired – mainly Harry’s.

The long agonizing days wouldn’t be so bad if she didn’t constantly wake up from bad dreams about Harry. She’d been through every worst case scenario. From Harry dying in a plane crash to him meeting somebody else in Hawaii and never coming home. It made her more anxious than she needed to be.

On the day Harry was to arrive home, Maggie was getting restless. She should’ve worked the morning shift at the library. At least it would have kept her mind occupied. Instead she was sitting at home just waiting. _Waiting, waiting, waiting_. Their flight didn’t get in until after six that night which drug out the day even longer. It would be at least past seven before she could even see him. By then the night was almost gone.

At around five she decided to haul all of Hemmy’s stuff back to Harry’s condo so he didn’t have to be bothered with it later – plus, they didn’t need any distractions. She wanted to run into his arms and never leave him once they saw each other.

Walking into his place, she got a sudden intoxicating whiff of a scent that was all Harry. She missed it thoroughly. There were many times during their time apart that his house key on her key ring tempted her to go to his condo and just be completely engulfed in his presence, but she refrained from being the obsessed girlfriend. She didn’t want to be _that_ pathetic – even though she was reaching her very own level of pathetic with how distressed she was without him around.

Hemmy ran around happily. He seemed over the top excited to be back in his home – in his daddy’s home. He missed the crap out of Harry, and Maggie was grateful he was coming back for Hemmy’s sake as well as her own.

“A few more hours, Hem. That’s all we’ll have to wait. Just a few hours,” she told the frolicking pup.

Looking around Harry’s place, Maggie let out a sigh. A few more hours and she wouldn’t be so pathetic. She would have him in her arms and the feelings she felt would be justifiable once again – because Harry would be expressing them too.

Without realizing it, she found herself standing in his bedroom at the foot of his pristinely made bed. Maggie crawled up in it and grabbed a pillow, resting her head on it. It smelled of him and it made her smile. Curling into the fetal position, she found herself growing tired. She wasn’t getting much sleep due to her nightmares as of late. If she were lucky, she could just close her eyes and hope to wake up to Harry’s sunshine face. She had no idea how well her plan would work.

_“’Wake up Maggie, I think I’ve got something to say to you…’”_  Maggie heard in the back of her mind. Harry’s beautiful voice. _Mmm, Harry_.

“Maggie May… wake up,” Harry’s voice was feathery light and angelic.

“Hmm…” She mumbled.

“Maggie, I miss those big beautiful eyes. Please wake up,” Harry’s voice was now in the foreground, ringing through her ears.

“Harry?” She questioned even before she opened her eyes.

“Maggie May, I missed you,” Harry said. She opened her eyes slowly to see Harry lying in bed next to her.

“Harry,” she said quietly and smiled.

“Maggie,” he said, smiling back.

“Is it really you?” She asked, almost feeling like she were in a dream.

“It’s me, love,” he told her with a smile.

“I missed you,” she sighed and she couldn’t keep the smile off her face even if she tried.

“You have _no_ idea,” he groaned and she couldn’t help but giggle.

Harry quickly wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tightly to his chest. Maggie felt at peace – like she was finally _home_. Because _he_ was finally home.

“You, Maggie, were definitely hard to be away from,” Harry whispered in her ear.

“You too,” she managed to squeak out as tears flooded her eyes. She was so relieved to have him home. Thankfully for her, she was nestled quite nicely against his chest, so he couldn’t see her emotions.

“I never want to let you go,” he said sweetly, only causing her tears to double.

Unable to keep herself from doing so, she sniffled – which caused him to pull back, looking at her.

“Mags, are you crying?” He asked, trying his best to see her face.

“No,” she lied, wiping at her eyes.

“Oh, love. I’m here,” he said, hugging her again.

“I’m happy. Happy tears,” she said, reaching up to wipe them away as they fell.

“I’m happy too, Mags,” he said, leaning down to kiss her lips.

Harry’s kisses intensified rapidly and she adapted well to them – _oh_ , how she missed it. But it was short-lived.

“ _Ahem_ …” They heard and both their heads snapped up to see Gemma standing in the doorway, smirking at them.

“Nice of you to ruin our reunion,” Harry said bitterly, sitting up to look at his sister.

“Right,” Gemma said with a smirk.

“Hi!” Maggie greeted her happily as she sat up next to Harry.

“Hi, Maggie. How’ve you been?” Gemma said, smiling at her sweetly.

“Lonely,” Maggie said with a playful pout.

“Mmm, love,” Harry said, wrapping his arm around the side of her neck to cuddle her back against his chest.

“Uh, so. I just wanted to let you know all the lads are here now, right in the living room,” Gemma told them.

“Thanks,” Harry told his sister.

“Okay, then,” Gemma said before she turned to leave the room.

Maggie sat next to Harry feeling extremely awkward that he found her in his bed. She felt truly pathetic.

“Is it weird that I’m here? _God_. I promise I didn’t like sleep in here while you were gone – like at night. This—this is the first time I’ve been in here since you left. I brought Hemmy’s stuff back…” Maggie rambled to Harry. She didn’t want to look like a crazy girlfriend.

“Maggie, its fine. I wouldn’t mind if you did sleep here. You do it when I am here,” he told her with a sideways smile.

“Yeah, but that’s different,” she said, averting her eyes.

“Maggie, its fine,” he said again, smiling at her.

“Hey, we’re all hungry. You guys want to grab some dinner?” Liam asked from the doorway, breaking their concentration on each other.

“Yeah. Pick a restaurant. I’m down,” Harry told his mate.

“Maggie, too?” Liam asked her. She looked at Harry who was nodding at her.

“Yeah,” she said quietly.

A half an hour later it was decided that they were going out to some Chinese restaurant in… well, Chinatown. Maggie sat at a round table, next to Harry and the rest of his friends – who all came back exceptionally tan. Harry literally looked good enough to eat – which really was the only appetite Maggie had. She wasn’t feeling particularly hungry for food. Just Harry.

“So Maggie, how did you pass the time while Harry was away?” She heard Louis ask with a mischievous grin on his face. Maggie choked on the sip of water she was drinking in that moment and Harry had to clap his hand on her back as she coughed.

“Oh. Are you alright?” Gemma asked, looking concerned.

“I’m fine,” Maggie said through a cough. Harry smiled at her goofily as she focused her attention back on Louis.

“I managed to find ways of keeping busy,” Maggie said, quirking her eyebrow at Louis, knowing he was being a little shit on purpose, since he walked in on her and Harry being intimate over the internet that first week.

“Oh, I bet you did,” Louis commented, smiling widely.

“Shut it, Louis,” Harry said, picking up a low mein noodle and throwing at him. Louis let out a laugh as he dodged it.

“What’s that about?” Gemma asked, looking between Harry and Louis.

“Louis’ just being a wanker,” Harry said and Louis laughed again.

“You couldn’t come with us because of your schooling?” Niall asked Maggie from the other end of the table.

“Yeah. My grades have been slipping a little lately—” She began to say.

“I’ll give you two guess as to why that is,” Louis joked.

“Why?” Niall asked seriously, looking over at Louis.

“It starts with a ‘Harold’ and ends with a ‘Styles’,” Louis said, smiling as he looked between the two of them.

Maggie beamed a smile over at Harry and he smiled back.

“We don’t like each other that much,” Harry joked, smiling at Maggie playfully.

“Nah,” Maggie said, shaking her head.

“What’s your major?” Niall asked her.

“Ultimately, I would like to go to Law School. I just… I don’t know how I could pay for it,” she told him, hanging her head. There was only so much she could take out in student loans. If she took too much out, she’d be paying them off until she was dead.

“Wow. Ambitious,” Niall said, looking rather impressed.

“Maggie May the genius,” Harry said lowly, only loud enough for her to hear and she smiled over at him.

“Maggie kept a 4.0 gpa for four years – every semester,” Harry pointed out to all his friends. Maggie’s cheeks flushed at the mention.

“No way!” Liam chimed in excitedly.

“Not anymore. I got a ‘B’ in Environmental Law. I-I should have studied more,” she said, feeling self-deprecating.

“I can’t even see how you could have studied anymore,” Harry told her.

“I… the night Hemmy went into surgery… I had the exam the next day,” she pointed out.

“ _Oh_ ,” Harry said quietly, looking almost guilty.

“But if I had to do it all over again, I would’ve stayed with you and him like I did anyway. That’s what was and is important,” Maggie told Harry.

“Aww,” she heard Gemma say under her breath.

Harry leaned over and kissed Maggie sweetly.

“You’re what’s important,” he whispered to Maggie. She couldn’t keep the smile from breaking through. He was the best boyfriend. _Literally_.

 

When they got home from dinner, most of Harry’s friends left to go to their respective houses. It was just Maggie, Harry, Gemma, Niall, Liam and Louis left. Harry was in his condo with his sister and friends, while Maggie took Hemmy out to go to the bathroom. She sat on the front stoop of Harry’s condo and enjoyed the peacefulness. Hemmy was sniffing around the grass, being a dog.

Maggie heard Harry’s front door open, but didn’t react, because she figured it was just Harry seeing what she was up to.

“Hey,” she heard Louis from behind her.

“Oh. Hey. I thought you would be Harry,” Maggie said, smiling at him as he sat down next to her, his luggage next to him.

“Nope,” he smirked, looking out at Hemingway in the grass. Maggie still felt a bit awkward around him since he saw her bare breasts over the internet.

The two of them sat in silence. So long that it startled Maggie a bit when Louis started to speak.

“Harry really missed you,” he said matter-of-factly.

“Yeah?” She asked, eyeing him with a smile on her face.

“Yeah,” he said with a smile.

“I missed him too,” she said quietly, smiling to herself.

“Maggie, I just want to apologize…” Louis started to say.

“For what?” She asked, confused.

“For walking in on you and Harry…” He said, bringing up the awkward situation.

“Louis, you couldn’t have known. And besides its Harry’s fault,” she said, nudging him with her shoulder.

“How is it Harry’s fault?” He wondered.

“He wouldn’t leave me alone about it, so finally I just flashed him to get him to shut up,” she laughed. Louis shook his head and laughed.

“I guess it pays to be persistent,” he chuckled.

“I guess so,” she giggled.

“I just don’t want there to be any weirdness between us,” Louis said, getting serious again.

“Seriously, if you hadn’t brought it up, I would have forgotten all about it,” she said, even though she didn’t forget about it. But it did make her feel better that Louis brought it up and it wasn’t just some embarrassing thing stewing between them.

“Not me,” he chuckled.

“Perv,” Maggie laughed, nudging him again. Louis laughed out loud as he stood up on the front step.

“Well, I was just heading out. Thanks for the talk, Maggie,” Louis said, beaming her a smile.

“Yeah, thanks,” Maggie said, returning the smile.

“I’ll see you around, yeah?” Louis said as he sent her one last wave and headed off to the Uber that was waiting for him with his luggage in tow.

“What was that?” Harry asked from his front doorway, looking dumbfounded.

“We were just chatting,” Maggie smirked as she stood up in front of him.

“Hmm,” he hummed, wrapping her in his arms. Maggie let her arms drape around his shoulders.

“Liam and Niall are watching a movie with Gemma right now. I told them I was going to bed… with you,” Harry said, smiling widely at her.

“ _Ooh._ Are you ready to spend the night with me for the first time in weeks?” She asked, smiling widely at him.

“So ready,” he said with a salacious smile before kissing her lips.

The two of them walked hand-in-hand over to Maggie’s, calling the dog into the house with them. They were both ready to be with one another. Too much time had passed. Hemingway was eager and excited to be back at Maggie’s – his home for the past two weeks – but he was not excited over the fact that Harry shut the bedroom door on him. He barked for a few moments before Harry shushed him, leaving the two of them in silence.

Harry watched as Maggie undressed for bed and he almost couldn’t take it. Without another word, he grabbed his girlfriend and laid her down on the bed. He didn’t care that his friends were only a wall away, he was going to make love to his well-missed girlfriend. And he did.

 

“Did you miss me, Maggie?” Harry asked as Maggie lay in the crook of his arm after quietly making love to him for the first time in two weeks.

“Of course I missed you, Harry. What kind of question is that?” She asked, looking at him incredulously.

“I was just asking,” he chuckled at her response.

“Did you miss me?” She asked, quirking an eyebrow at him.

“Of course I missed you, Maggie May. Hawaii just wasn’t fun without you,” he scoffed.

“Oh, your life is so rough, isn’t it?” Maggie laughed out loud.

“It is,” he whined.

“Spending two weeks in Hawaii. I wish I had that problem,” Maggie said and shook her head at her spoiled boyfriend.

“I didn’t want to be away from you,” he said, jutting out his bottom lip.

“I didn’t want to be away from you either, but we’ve got to roll with the punches, babe,” she told him with a sweet smile as her hand slipped up his bare chest. Harry chuckled lightly.

“Besides, I got to see you for the past two weeks through the eyes of the paparazzi. You were looking good, baby,” Maggie said, scratching her nails lightly down his chest as she leaned in to kiss him. Harry laughed against her mouth.

“Seriously, the fandom was losing their shit over you and the boys being half naked,” Maggie snickered.

“I don’t understand it. I’m just a regular bloke. And really, my chest leaves a lot to be desired,” Harry chuckled.

“Your chest is sexy,” Maggie said, trailing her finger across the two sparrows that were tattooed across his pecks. Harry smiled over at her devilishly.

“ _Mmm_. Do I turn you on, Maggie May?” He asked, suddenly growing serious.

“You sure are asking questions with obvious answers tonight,” Maggie said, rolling her eyes at him.

“I want to hear you say it,” he told her.

“What? That you turn me on?” She asked, quirking her eyebrow.

“Yes,” he said. He was so serious, it sent chills up her spine.

“Are you all of a sudden getting self-conscious?” She asked, unable to keep the bashful smile off her face.

“ _Maggie_ …” Harry breathed impatiently.

“Yes, Harry. You turn me on so much,” she said, telling him what he wanted to hear and exactly how she felt.

“How much?” He asked, wanting elaboration.

“I don’t even know how to answer that. Pretty much the limit does not exist,” she laughed and blushed.

“Did you think about me when I was gone?” He asked, eyeing her seductively.

“Every second,” she told him.

“How about when you were… _alone_ _?”_ he asked with a devilish smirked.

“Harry!” Maggie giggled, swatting at him playfully.

“Maggie, just answer the question,” Harry told her with a smile.

“You’re making me blush,” she said, burying her face in his chest. He laughed at her embarrassment.

“You’re proper adorable right now,” Harry chuckled, trying to get her to look at him again.

“You forget I am a shy, timid girl underneath it all,” she whined.

“And yet, at the end of the day, I can still get the fucking of my life out of you,” Harry said, trying to disprove her self-describing words.

“You bring it out of me. Proof that you turn me on,” she said, finally looking at him again.

“So, if I bring out the vixen in you, then why is it so hard to tell me if you thought about me when you were alone… in bed… or in the shower… or…” He said playfully before Maggie cut him off.

“Stop!” She yelped, giggling wildly.

“Maggie!” He growled playfully, pinning her on the bed underneath him.

“Did _you_ think of me when you were alone!?” She asked him.

“Hell yes, I did!” He admitted proudly. Her blush was no doubt making her cheeks look like cherry tomatoes.

“Oh my god,” she giggled.

“Why do you think I wanted to see your baps over the internet? Perfect visuals!” He admitted with a smile.

“What the hell is ‘baps’?” Maggie asked, looking at him oddly.

“Your tits, love,” Harry said, smiling wildly as he grabbed her chest.

“Oh, jeez. You’re naughty, Harry!” She laughed, smacking at his hands.

“And you’re dodging the subject,” he said, tickling her right under her rib cage.

“Harry!” She yelped as she squirmed underneath him. He snickered at her crazy response.

“You act like you haven’t already gotten your answer,” she told him seriously when he finally stopped tickling her.

“You have a funny way of answering my questions by not answering my questions,” he told her, lying back down next to her.

“I always think about you,” she said softly against the flesh of his shoulder.

A smile ravaged his face when he got the answer he wanted to hear.

“Are you happy now?” She asked with a smile.

“So happy,” he said, grinning from ear-to-ear.

“Dork,” she said, poking her finger into the squishy flesh of his stomach.

“Nerd,” he shot back playfully and Maggie giggled.

“You make me happy,” Maggie admitted quietly.

“ _Mmm_ , Maggie,” Harry hummed, pulling her closer.

“You make me so happy,” he finished and Maggie couldn’t get rid of her smile even if she tried.


End file.
